In very good news for Electric Vehicle producers in India, a massive hoard of lithium deposits was found in Jammu and Kashmir, making this the first time that such a deposit has been discovered in India. This is surely set to be a major boost for EV production companies.
The Union Government on Thursday said that 5.9 million tonnes of lithium reserves have been found for the first time in the country in Jammu and Kashmir. Lithium is a non-ferrous metal and is one of the key components in EV batteries.
According to the Centre, these lithium mineral blocks will later be auctioned off to the highest bidder just as soon as it gets clearance from the government. Currently, the blocks have been handed over to the respective state governments.
A total of 51 blocks of mineral deposits were discovered, out of which 5 blocks pertain to gold and other blocks pertain to commodities like potash, molybdenum, base metals, etc. spread across 11 states of Jammu and Kashmir (UT), Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana.
How will lithium deposits make EVs cheaper?
It is expected that after the detection of the 5.9 billion tones of lithium reserves across multiple states in the country, it is expected that the price of Electric Vehicles in India will go down, making the commodity more accessible for all and reducing the dependency on petrol and diesel.
Since lithium is one of the primary materials used in the production of EV car batteries, most of it is imported from countries like China for EV production in India. After the discovery of the reserves, India won’t have to spend money on importing the mineral and the cost of production of EVs will surely go down.
“Geological Survey of India for the first time established Lithium inferred resources (G3) of 5.9 million tonnes in the Salal-Haimana area of the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir," the Ministry of Mines said on Thursday.
(With ANI inputs)
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