Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: After its finds in Jammu and Kashmir a few months ago, the Geological Survey of India (GSI) has traced lithium deposits in Degana in the Nagaur district of Rajasthan.
Prospecting, mine development, and extraction of lithium are likely to start this year in J&K.
The lithium reserves in Rajasthan are higher in quantities than those found in J&K, according to media reports.
The Rajasthan reserves can meet nearly 80 percent of India’s total demand for lithium, and minimize the country’s dependence on China for its supplies.
A non-ferrous metal, lithium is widely used in making chargeable batteries for mobile phones, laptops, electric vehicles, and various electronic devices. At present, India entirely depends on expensive imports of lithium.
Lithium reserves in Rajasthan have been found in the Renvat hills of Degana and its surrounding areas once known for tungsten mining. The British discovered tungsten mineral in 1914 and used it to make war material during the First World War. After independence, India used tungsten for making surgical and other instruments.
With the cheap export of tungsten from China in the 1990s, however, the production of this metal stopped.
Lithium is the softest and lightest metal in the world. It stores chemical energy and converts it into electrical energy. Because of its global demand, it is also called White Gold with a price tag of over Rs. 55 lakhs per ton.
According to a World Bank report, the global demand for lithium by 2050 will increase by 500 percent.
At present, the world’s largest known lithium reserves of 21 million tons are in the Latin American country of Bolivia, followed by Argentina, Chile, and the USA. Despite this, China, with reserves of over five million tons, has a monopoly in the global market.
India imports over 50 percent of its lithium requirements from China. In 2020-21, New Delhi imported lithium worth over Rs. 6,000 crores, including Rs 3,500 crores from China alone.
The GSI, which was surveying to find high-grade tungsten minerals, found the lithium deposits by chance. It found deposits of high-quality tungsten, lithium, and four other minerals in the G2 stage survey.
There are possibilities of lithium deposits in Barmer, Jaisalmer, and some other areas also.