India Will Locally Meet Critical Mineral Demand In 3-4 Yrs: Govt

SUMMARY

Reddy said that the Centre’s INR 34,000 Cr National Critical Mineral Mission will lessen India’s "import dependence" and scale up the mining of minerals like lithium

Just last week, Reddy said GSI has identified a few lithium blocks in J&K and Chhattisgarh, adding that a special team will be set up for exploration of the blocks in the UT

Lithium is a critical mineral used for manufacturing lithium-ion batteries, which find application in EVs and smartphones

Minister of Coal and Mines, G Kishan Reddy, has expressed optimism that India will potentially be able to meet the demand for critical minerals such as lithium locally in the next three to four years.

“We need lithium for batteries of mobiles, and for solar panels. In the next three-four years, we are hopeful that we will be able to meet the demand for minerals like lithium from within the country and it will be of great help,” Reddy was quoted as saying in a PTI report.

Lithium is a critical mineral used for manufacturing lithium-ion batteries, which find application in electric vehicles, smartphones and others. Its compounds are also central to the advancement of modern semiconductor technologies.

He made the comments while speaking to the reporters on the sidelines of an event celebrating 175 years of the Geological Survey of India (GSI) in Kolkata.

Highlighting the Centre’s INR 34,000 Cr National Critical Mineral Mission, Reddy said that the scheme will pave the way for scaling up the mining of critical minerals like lithium. He added that the Mission will lessen India’s “import dependence” and help the country “achieve the top spot in mineral exploration by 2047”.

While noting that the GSI is playing an important role in meeting the objectives of the National Critical Mineral Mission, the Minister said that the agency is collaborating with Argentina on five lithium blocks in the Latin American country.

This comes just weeks after India’s Mineral Exploration and Consultancy Limited (MECL) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the provincial government of Argentina’s Catamarca to deepen collaboration in lithium exploration and mining.

Notably, the latest comments come just days after Reddy said the Geological Survey of India has identified a few lithium blocks in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Chhattisgarh. At the time, he also said that the government plans to set up a special team for exploration of lithium blocks in the UT.

“The clarity on this exploration will come by the end of April and May and after that we would go on auction,” the minister said then. It is the presence of this local lithium supply that could help India fulfil its lithium requirements for its burgeoning sectors like EVs and smartphone manufacturing.

Notably, Indian authorities have also been aggressively ramping up efforts to secure lithium supply. Besides Argentina, mines secretary VL Kantha Rao recently said that the county is “scouting for mining and exploration of critical mineral assets” including copper, lithium, nickel, and cobalt in Congo, Zambia, Tanzania and Australia.