{"id":32533,"date":"2023-02-11T02:09:34","date_gmt":"2023-02-10T20:39:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=32533"},"modified":"2025-04-19T13:45:21","modified_gmt":"2025-04-19T08:15:21","slug":"discovery-of-lithium-in-jk-its-significance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/discovery-of-lithium-in-jk-its-significance\/","title":{"rendered":"Discovery of Lithium in J&#038;K &#038; its Significance"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in News?\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What is Lithium?\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Applications of Lithium<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Where is Lithium Found Naturally?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Future of Lithium Production<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Discovery of Lithium-reserves in India<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Strategic Significance of Lithium Discovery in India<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in News?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Geological Survey of India (GSI), for the first time, has established availability of lithium-inferred resources of 5.9 million tonnes in <strong>Reasi district<\/strong> of Jammu and Kashmir.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is Lithium?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/5CdM5jX0Wu5OR0gXZBBTN15h-9e4G0ipE09nOhQIJh2Shyfoq7K4O5UuRW5xdQ0p7GfRNhxzGMHgW3kneoKns6I3YJGcclqzSw_c73HZYjnEbvYfJfsHKPEpEFuARpwKv5x1hqdSPB2qHqbB8gT8pw\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Image Caption: Lithium Metal<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Lithium is a chemical element with the symbol Li and atomic number 3. It is a <strong>soft, silvery-white<\/strong> alkali metal.<\/li>\n<li>Lithium is a special metal in many ways. It&#8217;s light and soft \u2014 it can be cut with a kitchen knife and so low in density that it floats on water.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What are the applications of Lithium?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The most important use of lithium is in <i><strong>rechargeable batteries for mobile phones, laptops, digital cameras and electric vehicles (EVs)<\/strong><\/i>.\u00a0\n<ul>\n<li>Lithium is often dubbed as \u201c<strong>white gold<\/strong>\u201d for electric vehicles.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Lithium metal is made into alloys with aluminium and magnesium, improving their strength and making them lighter.\n<ul>\n<li>Aluminium-lithium alloys are <i><strong>used in aircraft, bicycle frames and high-speed trains<\/strong><\/i>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Lithium has no known biological role. <strong>It is toxic<\/strong>, except in very small doses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Where is Lithium found naturally?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Lithium makes up a mere <strong>0.0007 per cent of the Earth&#8217;s crust<\/strong> and it&#8217;s only found locked up in minerals and salts.<\/li>\n<li>With 8 million tonnes, <i><strong>Chile has the world\u2019s largest known lithium reserves<\/strong><\/i>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Chile is followed by <strong>Australia (2.7 million tonnes)<\/strong>, <strong>Argentina (2 million tonnes)<\/strong> and <strong>China (1 million tonnes)<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>NOTE \u2013<\/strong> This was before the discovery of 5.9 million tonnes of reserves in J&amp;K.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Global lithium production surpassed <strong>100,000 tonnes<\/strong> for the first time in 2021, quadrupling from 2010. Currently, <i><strong>Australia alone produces 52% of the world\u2019s lithium<\/strong><\/i>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What is the future of Lithium Production?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><i><strong>1.5 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) by 2025 and over 3 million tonnes by 2030<\/strong><\/i>.<\/li>\n<li>Based on the above demand projections, production needs to triple by 2025 and increase nearly six-fold by 2030.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Discovery of Lithium-reserves in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Geological Survey of India, during preliminary exploration (G3) stage, found that 5.9 million tonnes have been found in Salal-Haimana area of Reasi district of J&amp;K.\n<ul>\n<li>As part of efforts to augment local reserves of the critical mineral, the <i><strong>GSI has carried out 14 projects on lithium during last five years<\/strong><\/i>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>India now has the third largest resource of lithium globally, but it will take time to convert it to reserves.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Strategic Significance of this Discovery in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/fO9iin4aen4tk4OBFYwG7QFJ-HX5dJYP1zQsyCLaG6xl-5rDUnEJbMNqVnIJTjZAqAKEx7xSP7614cNgTRINbU6bs5F5aKTUvBPydozHx8D51dyOy_oIzAQVGmlUt1NwuWdZ0Dl-NBt0nqHmBx4LpA\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Image Caption: Lithium Rich Countries<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This is the first significant discovery of lithium in India, as previously only a small reserve had been discovered in Karnataka.<\/li>\n<li><u>Lithium deposits are critical for India as the country puts its focus on electric mobility for both public and private transport<\/u>.\n<ul>\n<li>The country\u2019s imports of lithium and lithium-ion in FY21 stood at Rs 8,900 crore in FY21 and increased to Rs 13,800 crore in FY22.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The ongoing <strong>Russia-Ukraine was has disrupted the supply<\/strong>, resulting in high cost of the minerals.<\/li>\n<li>The discovery of lithium in J&amp;K is expected to give a major fillip to the country\u2019s self-sufficiency in EV Batteries.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>Experts say the discovery could lead to not only a reduction in India\u2019s dependence on foreign countries but also bring down the cost of such batteries in the future.\n<ul>\n<li>The cost of a battery is around 45-50 per cent in an EV.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>As part of efforts to decarbonise the transport sector \u2013 Government of India aims to grow EV sales in India to capture the markets of <i><strong>30 per cent of private passenger cars, 70 per cent of commercial vehicles, and 80 per cent of two and three-wheelers by 2030<\/strong><\/i>.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li>This will put India on track to reaching its <i><strong>goal of net zero emissions by 2070<\/strong><\/i>.<\/li>\n<li>This will also <i><strong>help reduce India\u2019s dependence on China<\/strong><\/i> \u2014 \u201ca major concern for many in the current political climate\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1) Why is Lithium also known as \u201cwhite gold\u201d?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Lithium makes up a mere 0.0007 per cent of the Earth&#8217;s crust and it&#8217;s only found locked up in minerals and salts. Lithium is called the new \u201cwhite gold\u201d because of its market value and its silver colour.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2) List the names of six alkaline metals on the periodic table.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K), rubidium (Rb), cesium (Cs), and francium (Fr).<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/india\/5-9-million-tonne-find-in-jk-makes-india-7th-largest-resource-of-lithium-in-world\/articleshow\/97809105.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>5.9 million-tonne find in J&amp;K makes India 7th largest resource of lithium in world\u00a0<\/u><\/a>\u00a0 <strong>|<\/strong>\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/theprint.in\/business\/how-lithium-deposits-found-in-jk-could-help-bring-down-cost-of-electric-vehicles-in-india\/1365635\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>The Print<\/u><\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Geological Survey of India has established availability of lithium resources in Reasi district of J&#038;K.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":32534,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-32533","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32533"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32533\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}