India has announced its first major discovery of lithium, a rare mineral needed to make electric cars.
The government said on Thursday that 5.9 million tonnes of the mineral had been discovered in Jammu and Kashmir.
Until now, India has been dependent on Australia and Argentina for lithium imports.
Lithium is a key component in the batteries that power numerous gadgets such as smartphones and laptops, as well as electric vehicles.
Experts say the discovery could help India increase the number of private electric cars by 30% by 2030 as part of efforts to reduce carbon emissions to combat global warming.
The Geological Survey of India has found lithium reserves in the Salal Haiman area of Reasi district in Jammu and Kashmir, India’s Ministry of Mines said.
In 2021, much smaller deposits of the mineral were found in the southern state of Karnataka.
Earlier, the government said it was trying to improve the supply of rare metals needed to develop new technologies and was looking at sources in India and abroad.
Vivek Bharadwaj, secretary of the Ministry of Mines, told the Mint newspaper that India is “refocusing its exploration efforts” to achieve this goal.
Globally, demand for rare metals, including lithium, has increased as countries look to adopt greener solutions to slow climate change.
In 2023, China signed a $1 billion (£807 million) deal to develop Bolivia’s massive lithium reserves, estimated at 21 million tonnes, the largest in the world.
According to the World Bank, the production of important minerals will need to increase by 500% to meet global climate goals by 2050.
However, experts claim that the lithium extraction process is not environmentally friendly.
Lithium is mined from hard rock and underground brine reservoirs, which are mainly located in Australia, Chile and Argentina.
After the mineral is mined, it is roasted with fossil fuels, scorching the landscape and leaving behind scars. The mining process also requires a lot of water and releases a lot of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Extracting it from underground reservoirs, many of which are in water-scarce Argentina, uses large amounts of water, prompting protests from indigenous communities who say the activity is depleting natural resources and leading to acute water shortages.
