Science News Desk – The Indian government announced on Thursday that large reserves of lithium have been found in the country for the first time. The Geological Survey of India said that reserves of 5.9 million tonnes of lithium have been found in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district. According to Live Science, lithium is a light metal that has many uses. Lithium helps treat bipolar disorder, stabilizing the wild mood swings that can occur with illness or stress. The name lithium comes from ‘lithos’, which is a Greek word. Lithos means ‘stone’ in Greek.
Lithium is a non-ferrous metal and one of the major components used in batteries for Electric Vehicles (EVs). Batteries made of lithium and ion have a higher energy density than lead-acid batteries or nickel-metal hydride batteries. Hence it is possible to make the size of the battery smaller than others while maintaining the same energy storage capacity. With the increasing emphasis on EVs by governments across the world, lithium has become very important in the manufacture of these vehicles.
India has recently been looking at increasing supplies of key minerals, including lithium, which will be crucial as it pushes forward with its plans for electric vehicles. Earlier, the Mines Ministry had said that the government is taking several proactive measures to secure minerals including lithium from Australia and Argentina to strengthen the critical mineral supply chain for emerging technologies. Currently, India is dependent on imports for several minerals such as lithium, nickel and cobalt. 50% of the reserves of these minerals are concentrated in three South American countries – Argentina, Bolivia and Chile.
Thus, the 5.9 million tonnes of lithium reserves found in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district is a big deal for India, as it will help increase India’s penetration in the electric vehicle sector in the years to come. Speaking at the Central Geological Programming Board meeting on Thursday, Mines Secretary Vivek Bhardwaj said critical minerals are needed everywhere, be it mobile phones or solar panels. He said that in order to become self-reliant, it is very important for the country to find and process important minerals.