Lithium reserves have been traced in Degana, Rajasthan, state government officials said. Mining, as well as the Geological Survey of India (GSI) officials, said the reserves are said to be higher than the ones recently found in Jammu & Kashmir.
It is claimed that there is so much lithium here that 80 percent of India’s total demand can be met from here. Till now India is dependent on China for lithium. Now it is believed that China’s monopoly will end and like the Gulf countries, the fortunes of Rajasthan will also rise.
Lithium is a non-ferrous metal, which is used to make mobile-laptop, electric vehicles, and other chargeable batteries. India is completely dependent on expensive foreign supplies of lithium. Now GSI has found large deposits of Lithium around Degana.
Lithium is also the lightest and softest metal in the world. The mineral converts the chemical energy it stores into electrical energy.
Apart from GSI, a consortium of three Public-sector Undertaking companies National Aluminium The company, Hindustan Copper, and Mineral Exploration Corp is working to provide a vehicle for research & development for recycling, acquisition, and also joint manufacturing of Lithium-ion batteries.
Lithium reserves are concentrated in the lithium triangle in South America – Argentina, Bolivia & Chile, with 50% of the deposits concentrated in these regions. China, meanwhile, has the lead over other countries and China controls 75% of Lithium refining.
India’s plan to increase EV penetration by 30% by 2030 relies heavily on lithium – as of now, only a little more than 1% of all vehicle sales in the country are electric vehicles.
Lithium reserves in Rajasthan have been found in the same Renvat hill of Degana and its surrounding area, from where tungsten mineral was once supplied to the country. During British rule, the British discovered tungsten mineral in the year 1914 on the hill of Renwat in Degana.
