Parliament passes law allowing auction, mining of lithium reserves

New Delhi, Aug 2: The parliament on Wednesday passed a law allowing the government of Jammu and Kashmir to auction and mine its newly-discovered reserves of lithium, among other minerals, increasing the mining of the critical raw material for electric vehicle batteries.
Under the law, lithium, along with other minerals was removed from a previous list of atomic minerals, which prevented it from being auctioned to and mined by private companies.
“Upon removal of these minerals from the list of atomic minerals, exploration and mining of these minerals will be open to private sector,” a government statement said.
As a result, exploration and mining of these minerals is expected to increase significantly in the country,” the statement said.
Pertinently, Lithium reserves were discovered earlier this year in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Other minerals that will now be open for mining and auction include titanium, beryl, niobium and zirconium, the statement said.
These minerals were earlier only allowed to be mined by state-run companies, which meant that they were mined in limited quantities, and the involvement of private companies could be a ‘force multiplier’, the statement said.
“There is a need to vigorously increase exploration and production of the minerals proposed to be removed from the list of atomic minerals to meet the growing demands of the country,” the statement said. [KNT]