New Delhi: All the countries of the world are slowly shifting their transportation towards e -vehicles. In such a situation, finding lithium reserves in India’s Jammu and Kashmir is no less than a jackpot. Lithium reserves have been found for the first time in the country and this too is not a small reserve. Its total capacity is 5.9 million tonnes, which is the highest in the world after Chile and Australia.
After this discovery, India has come at number three in terms of lithium capacity. Lithium is such a non-ferrous metal, which is used to make chargeable batteries for many items including mobile-laptop, electric-vehicle. India is currently dependent on other countries for this rare earth element. This discovery can prove to be very magical for India. As of now, 96 per cent of the lithium required in India is imported. For this, a large amount of foreign exchange has to be spent. India spent Rs 8,984 crore on the import of lithium ion batteries in the financial year 2020-21. In 2021-22, India imported lithium ion batteries worth Rs 13,838 crore.
India imports the most lithium from China and Hong Kong. Year after year, the quantity and amount of import is increasing strongly. According to statistics, India imports up to 80 percent of lithium from China. But now the reserves of lithium found in the country are about 4 times more than the total reserves of China. Since increasing the focus on electric vehicles, India has been at number four in the world in terms of importing lithium. If we look at the status of lithium reserves in the world, then in this case Chile is at number one with 9.3 million tonnes. Whereas Australia is at number two with 63 lakh tonnes. India has come at number three after getting 59 lakh tonnes of reserves in Kashmir. Argentina is fourth with 27 million tonnes of reserves, China is fifth with 2 million tonnes of reserves and America is sixth with 1 million tonnes of reserves.
Even before getting this reserve, India is working on buying stake in the mines of lithium rich countries like Argentina, Chile, Australia and Bolivia to become self-sufficient in this area. Along with this, African countries are also ready to give mines of many types of minerals, including lithium, to India in exchange for loans taken from India.
It will not be easy to manufacture Lithium ion batteries just by getting the reserves of Lithium. Actually, the production and refining of lithium is a very difficult task. This requires state-of-the-art technology. It can also be understood in this way that the mine production of lithium in Australia with 6.3 million tonnes of reserves is 0.6 million tonnes.
On the other hand, in spite of 9.3 million tonnes of reserves in Chile, only 0.39 million tonnes can be produced. In such a situation, it is not easy for India to produce from this reserve. Imported lithium ion batteries are used in electric vehicles manufactured and assembled in India. If the country is able to use its own reserve, then there can be an increase in the manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries in the domestic market. If India succeeds in producing lithium from its reserves, then customers can get benefited. This can make electric batteries cheaper, which will make electric cars more affordable. Actually, about 45 percent of the cost of electric cars is of battery pack. For example, the battery pack fitted in Nexon EV costs Rs 7 lakh, while its cost is around Rs 15 lakh.
The Government of India aims to make 30% of private cars, 70% of commercial vehicles and 80% of two-wheelers in India by 2030. Obviously, to achieve this goal, it is necessary to increase the production of lithium ion batteries in India. But this will not be possible only by getting lithium reserves. For this, it is necessary to use lithium in battery manufacturing. For this India needs to learn from China. China has set a target of 40 percent electric cars by 2030. Out of every 10 lithium batteries used worldwide, 4 are used in China. Even in its production, China is ahead of others. China accounts for 77 percent of the world’s total lithium battery production. But to reach this point, China had prepared a plan in 2001 itself. Since 2002, he started investing in the plan to manufacture electric cars.
It is estimated that by 2035, half of the vehicles running on the world’s roads will be electric cars. In the coming time, the total market of electric cars will be more than 100 billion dollars. In such a situation, India will also need large scale investment for domestic manufacturing. A report that came before this discovery had claimed that India would need an investment of $10 billion for lithium-ion batteries by 2030.
India is the second largest importer of Lithium Ion batteries after America. About 1.65 lakh lithium-ion batteries were imported in America, 1.54 lakh in India and 75 thousand in Vietnam at number three. Most battery imports in India are from China, Japan and Vietnam. Now to become self-sufficient in this matter, India will have to develop a technology, so that it can produce Lithium Ion batteries in the country. In view of the target of 2030, India will need to produce 10 million lithium ion batteries annually.
To avoid environmental damage caused by lithium-ion batteries, it is very important to create a recycling ecosystem for lithium-ion batteries in the country. For this, the Environment Ministry had made the Battery Waste Management Rules 2022 in August last year. Under this, recycling of bad batteries can be done. Currently, India is at number seven in the world in recycling. China ranks first in recycling, followed by Germany, the US and France. China recycles 1,88,000 million tonnes every year, while in India this figure is just 10,750 million tonnes. India is followed by Britain, Canada, Norway, Belgium and Australia.
