India has been exploring ways to secure supplies of lithium, a critical raw material used to manufacture Electric vehicle batteries.
Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government listed 30 minerals, including lithium, nickel, titanium, vanadium and tungsten, as critical to boosting the adoption of clean energy.
“Coal India and some other companies are looking at Argentina,” Rao told reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference.
In June, Reuters reported that Coal from India was exploring lithium blocks in Argentina with a US company to secure supplies of battery material as part of India’s efforts under the US-led Mineral Security Partnership (MSP).
India, one of the world’s top greenhouse gas emitters, has been seeking overseas deals to secure key minerals in resource-rich countries such as Australia, Argentina and Chile. The Indian state-owned company Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL) is looking for leads in Australia for critical minerals, Rao said, adding that KABIL had also obtained permission for “non-invasive” exploration in Argentina. “KABIL has five blocks and for three blocks it has permission to do non-invasive exploration,” he said.
In January, KABIL signed a $24 million lithium exploration deal for five blocks in Argentina.
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