Lithium Reserves Found in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir

Not more than after a fortnight the government announced extension of concessional duty on Lithium Ion Batteries for another year, seems like there would be very less need to import them. The Ministry of Mines, on Thursday, announced that Salal-Haimana in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K)’s Reasi district has Lithium Reserves of around 5.9 million Tonnes. The reserves found are inferred resources (G3) of lithium, which means values is assumpted as per the geological evidence and the proper geological testing is pending. However, the ministry?,? on Thursday?,? gave the information via twitter saying that? the? above values are correct.

"The Geological Survey of India for the first time established Lithium inferred resources (G3) of 5.9 million tonnes in the Salal-Haimana area of the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir," said the Ministry of Mines.

The ministry also added that GSI found 51 blocks including Lithium and Gold which were later handled to the respective state governments. 

"Out of these 51 mineral blocks, 5 blocks pertain to gold and other blocks pertain to commodities like potash, molybdenum, base metals etc. spread across 11 states of Jammu and Kashmir (UT), Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana," the ministry added.

India is currently fully dependent on the imports of lithium Ions for manufacturing batteries for all the industries including electric vehicles. Imports surge the prices for the final products. These reserves will help to curb the problems making the country self reliant. 

Pankaj Sharma, Co-Founder of Log9 Materials, a Battery tech company based in Bangalore,? commented on this news saying, “At a time when the government has been catalysing initiatives toward EV battery manufacturing and green mobility to reach its ambitious net-zero goal by 2070, the report from the Geological Survey of India about the discovery brings hope for localised production of Li-ion cells and batteries, which will also go a long way in reducing our trade deficits with the neighbouring country.”