India Can Become Number One EV Manufacturer By Using J&K’s Lithium Reserve: Nitin Gadkari

Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari said on Friday (25 March) that India can deploy a recently unearthed reserve of lithium in J&K (Jammu and Kashmir) to become the world’s number one EV manufacturer.

Speaking at an event organised by CII, Gadkari highlighted the need to encourage public transport and further added that electric buses are the future, PTI reported. 

“Every year, we (India) import 1,200 tonnes of lithium. Now, in Jammu and Kashmir, we got lithium. (If) we can use this lithium-ion, we will be the number one automobile manufacturing country in the world,” Gadkari added.

It is pertinent to note that Lithium is a key element in manufacturing batteries that power electric vehicles (EVs). Of late, about 5.9 Mn tonnes of lithium reserve was unearthed in J&K by the  Geological Survey of India (GSI). 

“Lithium falls in the critical resource category, which was not earlier available in India and we were dependent on its 100% import. The G3 (advanced) study of the GSI shows the presence of best quality lithium in abundant quantity in the foothills of Mata Vaishno Devi shrine at Salal village (Reasi),” said Amit Sharma, J&K mining secretary.

During the event, Gadkari shared that the Indian automobile industry is currently worth INR 7.5 Cr and is contributing a significant share to the overall GST revenue.

In 2022, India had beaten Japan, becoming the third-largest automobile market globally after China and the US.

During the event, Gadkari also noted that good infrastructure is crucial for the development of any country and also urged industry leaders to invest in vehicle scrapping. Furthermore, he emphasised the need of reducing Indian logistics expenses to a single digit, from the current 16% of GDP by 2024.

These comments have come at a time when the Centre’s body Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is reportedly scrutinising two-wheeler OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) for misappropriating subsidies under the FAME-II scheme. 

EV players such as Hero Electric, Okinawa Autotech, Ampere Vehicles, Revolt, Ola Electric, Ather Energy and TVS Motor are currently under the scrutiny of CAG for either misappropriating subsidies or mispricing their products to avail subsidies.

This month, Gadkari informed the Parliament that EV charging stations are susceptible to cyberattacks. 

He shared that the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) received reports of vulnerabilities in products and applications, which are related to EV charging stations, and also issued alerts as well as shared remedial measures to curb cyber attacks. 

At the moment, when the Centre is examining the nature of operations of two-wheeler OEMs, three-wheeler EV manufacturers are urging the Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) for a minimum of 50% increase in subsidies under the FAME-II scheme. 

The three-wheeler EV manufacturers are reportedly seeking a rise in the subsidy to at least INR 15,000 per kWh (Kilowatt hoursKilowatt hours) battery size from the present INR 10,000 per kWh.