India Paves Way For Allowing Commercial Mining Of Lithium, Other Critical Minerals

The Union Cabinet is now reported to have approved amendments to the Mines and Minerals (Development) and Regulation) Act to pave the way to allow commercial mining of Lithium and other critical minerals in the country. This comes months after India discovered reserves of Lithium in the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir and another one at Rajasthan.

Currently India is totally dependent on imports of Lithium and Lithium-ion cells from countries like China, Chile, Russia, Ireland and Belgium. These amendments of the MMRD Act are likely to lift the ban on commercial mining of six critical minerals which include-Lithium, Beryllium, Titanium, Niobium, Tantalum and Zirconium. Several of these minerals find their usage in the production of batteries for Electric Vehicles and also in the manufacturing of renewable energy products like solar panels and wind turbines.

The Geological Survey of India (GSI) through their exploration activities have found some reserves of Lithium in two Indian states. If more studies find it suitable to mine Lithium, it could help the country to cut down on the imports of this critical mineral and also become resilient to the global supply chain disruptions.

The increase demand of Lithium is due to several of the imbibed virtue it offers like the higher rechargeable qualities, light weight, long lasting and better performance compared to lead acid batteries. Due to these features, it has become a much sought after item for the rising Electric Vehicle segment in India. Besides EVs, it also finds its use in other electrical appliances too.

The Ministry of Mines recently also identified Lithium as one of the critical minerals of the country besides 29 other critical minerals. These critical minerals have been defined based on their economic importance for the country and its vulnerability in supply due to geopolitical reasons.