The quantity and value of import of Lithium and Lithium-ion by India in the last three years along with source countries is given in Annexure.

Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD), a constituent unit of the Department Atomic Energy (DAE), is carrying out exploration for Lithium in potential geological domains in parts of Mandya and Yadgir districts of Karnataka. Preliminary surveys on surface and limited subsurface exploration by AMD have shown presence of Lithium resources of 1,600 tonnes (inferred category) in Marlagalla area, Mandya district, Karnataka.

Further, the Geological Survey of India (GSI), an attached office of Ministry of Mines, takes up different stages of mineral exploration as per the approved annual Field Season Programme (FSP) every year viz. reconnaissance surveys (G4), preliminary exploration (G3) and general exploration (G2) following the guidelines of the United Nations Framework Classification (UNFC) and the Mineral Evidence and Mineral Content Rules (MEMC-2015). The FSP is undertaken for augmenting mineral resource for various mineral commodities including Lithium. During FSP 2016-17 to FSP 2020-21, GSI carried out 14 projects on Lithium and associated elements in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Karnataka and Rajasthan. During the current FSP 2021-22, GSI has taken up 5 projects on Lithium and associated minerals in Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jammu & Kashmir and Rajasthan.

Lithium is used mainly in battery industry. The Government on 12.5.2021 approved the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for manufacturing of Advance Chemistry Cell (ACC) in the country. The total outlay of the scheme is Rs. 18,100 crores for a period of five years. The scheme envisages establishing a competitive ACC battery manufacturing set-up in the country (50 Giga Watt hour-GWh). Additionally, 5 GWh of niche ACC technologies is also covered under the scheme. The scheme proposes a production linked subsidy based on applicable subsidy per KWh and percentage of value addition achieved on actual sales made by the manufacturers who set up production units. The PLI scheme will facilitate reduction of import dependence of ACC battery.

Annexure

 LITHIUM IMPORT AND PRODUCTION IN THE COUNTRY

Table 1: Total Import of Lithium (HS Code: 85065000) and Lithium-ion (HS Code: 85076000) from 2018-19 to 2020-21

(Quantity in Thousand numbers, Value in Rs. Crore)

Year	2018-19		2019-20		2020-21
	Quantity	Value	Quantity	Value	Quantity	Value
Lithium (HS Code: 85065000)	85,224	202	72,376	147	71,392	173
Lithium-ion (HS Code: 85076000)	6,27,353	8,574	5,39,428	8,819	5,16,733	8,811

 

Source: Department of Commerce

Table 2: Country-wise import of Lithium (HS Code: 85065000)

(Quantity in Thousand numbers)

2018-19			2019-20			2020-21
Country		Quantity %Share Country		Quantity		%Share Country	Quantity	%Share
Hong Kong	47,248	55.44	Hong Kong	38,547	53.26	Hong Kong	26,641	37.32
China	16,868	19.79	China	14,988	20.71	China	22,881	32.05
Indonesia	11,276	13.23	Indonesia	9,063	12.52	Indonesia	6,689	9.37
Singapore	4,929	5.78	Singapore	5,077	7.02	Singapore	5,849	8.19
Korea RP	3,257	3.82	Korea RP	2,780	3.84	Japan	5,090	7.13
Japan	1,134	1.33	Japan	1,512	2.09	Korea RP	3,180	4.45
Israel	186	0.22	Israel	144	0.20	Thailand	337	0.47
USA	84	0.10	USA	85	0.12	Germany	243	0.34
Malaysia	70	0.08	Germany	72	0.10	USA	155	0.22
Taiwan	42	0.05	Taiwan	61	0.08	Israel	126	0.18
Others (26 Countries)	130	0.15	Others (25 Countries)	48	0.07	Others (23 Countries)	202	0.28
Total	85,224	100	Total	72,376	100	Total	71,392	100

 

Source: Department of Commerce

Table 3: Country-wise import of Lithium-ion (HS Code: 85076000)

(Quantity in Thousand numbers)

2018-19			2019-20			2020-21
Country	Quantity %Share		Country	Quantity	%Share	Country	Quantity	%Share
China	5,08,415	81.04	China	3,67,717	68.17	China	3,75,831	72.73
Hong Kong	94,750	15.10	Hong Kong	1,37,473	25.48	Hong Kong	1,21,335	23.48
Vietnam	19,378	3.09	Vietnam	19,797	3.67	Vietnam	12,852	2.49
Malaysia	1,722	0.27	Malaysia	4,260	0.79	Malaysia	1,769	0.34
Korea RP	1,192	0.19	Korea RP	2,823	0.52	Singapore	1,708	0.33
USA	361	0.06	Singapore	2,779	0.52	Korea RP	1,405	0.27
Taiwan	359	0.06	Thailand	1,484	0.28	Japan	551	0.11
Singapore	296	0.05	Indonesia	1,090	0.20	U S A	389	0.08
Sri Lanka	211	0.03	Japan	895	0.17	Indonesia	349	0.07
UAE	185	0.03	Taiwan	528	0.10	Taiwan	195	0.04
Others (35 Countries)	483	0.08	Others (29 Countries)	583	0.11	Others (30 Countries)	350	0.07
Total	6,27,353	100	Total	5,39,427	100	Total	5,16,733	100

Source: Department of Commerce

This information was given by the Union Minister of Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs Shri PralhadJoshi in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

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MV/AKN/RKP

 

 

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