Massive Lithium Deposits Discovered In Jammu And Kashmir — Ministry Of Mines Confirms | V3Cars

10 February 2023
By Mahesh Yadav
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According to an official confirmation from the Ministry of Mines, a large 5.9 million tonnes of “inferred resources G3” was discovered in Jammu and Kashmir. The reserves were discovered in the Reasi district of Jammu. The “inferred resources G3” indicates that the estimates are with low confidence. However, the discovery should still yield enough raw material to scale lithium battery manufacturing in India. Local production of the lithium batteries will help boost electric vehicle adoption in India.

Big Lithium Reserves Discovered In Jammu & Kashmir

Budget 2023

In the recent budget for the 2023-24 financial year, the Ministry of Finance announced customs duty exemptions towards capital goods and machinery imports required for lithium battery production. The minister also talked about offering financial assistance to set up 400MWh of battery storage systems.

Biggest Beneficiaries

1. Maruti Suzuki

Maruti Suzuki’s parent company, Suzuki, are setting up a battery production plant in Gujarat. They are the first big brand working on local lithium battery production in India and will benefit from the recent discovery.

However, Maruti Suzuki aren’t relying exclusively on electric vehicles in their long-term India plans. They have the most diversified line of alternative fuels to transition towards green mobility such as:

Hydrogen CNG
Bio CNG
Petrol Hybrid
Flex fuel (E85)

Meanwhile, they are also working on making the eVX electric SUV with a skateboard platform. The financial aids announced in the recent budget will benefit them regardless of which alt fuel finds the largest number of buyers.

Also Read: 4 Major Concerns Highlighted In Maruti Suzuki’s Budget Reaction

Maruti Suzuki Budget 2023 Reaction - Insights Into Concerns, Opportunities

2. Ola

Made-in-India Battery

Ola are the other automaker to greatly benefit from this announcement in the coming years. They are also setting up a battery production plant in India and intend to make electric 2-wheelers and cars for domestic as well as international markets. Besides making the batteries in India, Ola are also working on their own proprietary battery chemistry.

Also Read: The First Ola Electric Car Will Use Ola’s Own Battery Cells

Ola have confirmed in their presentations that they are working on 2 EV platforms and planning to bring 6 EVs in India. Here are our guesstimates about the same:

POSSIBLE OLA ELECTRIC CARS LAUNCHING IN 2024 AND LATER
Big Car Platform	Size-based Rivals
C-segment Coupe Sedan (Teased)	Honda City, Maruti Nexa Ciaz, Hyundai Verna
C-segment SUV	MG ZS, Hyundai Kona, Creta
C/D-segment MPV	Kia Carens, Nexa XL6, Maruti Ertiga
Compact Car Platform	Size-based Rivals
B2-segment hatchback	Nexa Baleno, Tata Altroz, Hyundai i20
B2-segment SUV/crossover	Tata Nexon, Hyundai Venue, Maruti Brezza
Delivery van	Maruti Eeco or Renault Triber

3. Mahindra

mahindra

Mahindra have also hinted that they will use made-in-India batteries for their upcoming born-electric SUV range. They have also confirmed that they will use blade batteries. The budget concessions to encourage domestic lithium battery production and the local reserves could push BYD to consider making their LFP blade batteries in India.

Also Read: Mahindra Could Source Batteries For Next-Gen Electric SUVs From BYD

4. Locals

map

The other major win comes for the locals in the J&K area in and around the Reasi district. The mining of lithium in their area will bring fresh investments and create a good number of jobs for the local youth. Trade with the Union Territory will also increase shipping to and from J&K and thus necessitate better infrastructure. The import-export from the J&K area could help fund such large projects to build and maintain highways in the mountainous region. So far, doing so has mostly been done to maintain strategic military reasons with some revenues flowing in from tourism.

Source: Indian Ministry Of Mines (Twitter)