India has found a major deposit of lithium, suddenly making it a major player in batteries and EVs

The Indian government announced on Thursday, Feb. 10 that 5.9 million tons of lithium, a crucial mineral for the manufacturing of electric vehicles and solar panels, had been discovered in the provinces of Jammu and Kashmir. It was the first major discovery of lithium in India, with the only discovery in the provinces of Jammu and Kashmir.

The demand for lithium has grown globally as countries race to reduce carbon emissions and switch to clean energy. Energy storage, thus, plays a crucial role.

India has so far remained dependent on foreign supplies for crucial minerals like nickel and cobalt – including lithium – as the country pushes on with its ambitious plans to expand energy storage tech and the electric vehicles market.

On Thursday, officials from India’s federal government announced they had found 5.9m tonnes of lithium reserves in the Reasi district of the northern Jammu and Kashmir region.

“For the first time, lithium reserves have been discovered and that too in Jammu and Kashmir,” Mines Secretary Vivek Bharadwaj told reporters.

Describing it as a way for India to become “aatmanirbhar”, a slogan promoted by the Narendra Modi government that means self reliance, Mr Bharadwaj said the critical mineral discovery will aid domestic production of batteries for a number of devices, including mobile phones and solar panels.

Recently, India began a major push for research and development of crucial minerals as part of a national mission on advanced energy storage aimed at developing next-generation energy storage tech that also involves the use of lithium.

The government had set up a task force to explore opportunities for domestic lithium production as well.