India may open up lithium mining in batteries quest

India may open up lithium mining in batteries quest

Subject :Geography

Section :Economic Geography

• India is seeking to change laws to allow private miners to extract lithium, the key ingredient for batteries used in in electric vehicles and energy storage, as the nation aims to be more self-sufficient in green technologies.
• Eight minerals, including lithium, beryllium and zirconium will be removed from a restricted list that currently prohibits production by private companies.
• They are also aimed at reducing India’s dependence on imports for some key minerals, and to put the country in a better position to compete in the lucrative battery supply chain.
• India wants to add local manufacturing of a swathe of zero-emissions technologies as it chases a target of becoming carbon neutral by 2070 and to capture opportunities from the global transition to cleaner energy.
• The nation has pledged to build 500 gigawatts of clean power capacity by 2030, and the deployment of huge volumes of battery storage is seen as vital to enable round-the-clock use of renewables.
• Government agencies have been exploring for lithium and discovered a small resource at a site in Karnataka , according to the Ministry of Mines.
• Australia and Chile currently dominate raw materials output, while China is the world’s largest refiner.
• India’s imports of lithium- ion batteries jumped 54 per cent from a year earlier to $1.83 billion in the year ended March, Trade Ministry data show.
• Besides effort to boost local output, the country is also scouting for lithium and cobalt assets overseas.
• A joint venture has been formed with three state companies — National Aluminium Co, Hindustan Copper Ltd. and Mineral Exploration Corp — to acquire mines overseas.