India Finds Its First Lithium Reserves In Jammu & Kashmir

New Delhi: The Union Government on Thursday said that 5.9 million tonnes of lithium reserves have been found for the first time in the country in Jammu and Kashmir.

Lithium is a non-ferrous metal and is one of the key components in EV batteries.

“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,” the Ministry of Mines said on Thursday.

Geological Survey of India has for the first time established 5.9 million tonnes inferred resources (G3) of lithium in Salal-Haimana area of Reasi District of Jammu & Kashmir (UT).@GeologyIndia

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— Ministry Of Mines (@MinesMinIndia) February 9, 2023

“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.

“The proposed Annual Programme for the ensuing Field Season 2023-24 was presented and discussed during the meeting. During the ensuing year 2023-24, GSI is taking up 966 programmes comprising 318 mineral exploration projects including 12 marine mineral investigation projects,” the ministry further said.

The Geological Survey of India has set up 115 projects on strategic and critical minerals and 16 projects on fertiliser minerals.

“55 programmes on geoinformatics, 140 programmes on fundamental and multidisciplinary geosciences, and 155 programs for training and institutional capacity building have also been taken up,” the Mines ministry stated.