The Geological Survey of India (GSI) has found significant lithium reserves in the Rajasthani Degana municipality of the Nagaur district. According to GSI, these reserves contain enough lithium to supply 80% of the nation’s total demand.  The discovery of these reserves may lessen India’s reliance on China for lithium, which is used to make batteries for electric vehicles, laptops, and mobile devices. It also goes by the name “White Gold” due to its high price and rising global demand.

This lithium reserve, according to GSI officials, is a lot larger than the reserves discovered in Jammu and Kashmir. Lithium reserves totalling 5.9 million tonnes were found in Jammu and Kashmir in February of this year. The same Renwat hills of Degana town and its surroundings are where lithium deposits have been discovered in Rajasthan.  The GSI team went to Degana to look for tungsten rather than lithium.  However, lithium deposits were found there.

The Renwat hills of Degana in the Nagaur district of Rajasthan, Barabar in Pali district, Bap area of Jodhpur, Pokaran of Jaisalmer, Kuchaman and Didwana of Nagaur district, Sujangarh and Talchhapar of Churu, and Pachpadra in Barmer district may also have lithium deposits, according to the report of geologist Devendra Singh of Barmer.

Currently, India is entirely dependent on China for Lithium. In the tenure between 2020 to 2021, India imported Lithium worth Rs 6,000 Crore, out of which, Lithium worth Rs 3,500 was purchased from China.

Lithium is a non-ferrous metal (metals that do not consist of iron). These metals are used to make rechargeable batteries for smartphones, electric vehicles and laptops. It is anticipated that by the year 2030, India will have 13.92 lakh EVs on the roads. The discovery of these lithium reserves is encouraging because they offer the best possible substitute for the ores currently being extracted from the earth.

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