Blocks of salt are seen on Uyuni salt lake, which holds the world’s largest reserve of lithium, about 500 km (311 miles), south of La Paz. (Reuters)Bolivia, which is keen on signing a preferential trade agreement with India, is wooing Indian investors to manufacture lithium batteries and related products in the country. Sources said some large Indian companies are exploring investment opportunities in Bolivia as they await a NITI Aayog policy recommendation on subsidies for the sector. Lithium batteries can be used in electric vehicles which the Indian government wants to promote. Having the largest reserves of lithium, Bolivia has recently come out with a lithium policy and is inviting both public and private sector buyers and investors.
Sergio Dario Arispe Barrientos, ambassador of Bolivia to India, said: “Both public and private Indian companies as well as small scale auto battery makers are invited to visit the country to get a sense of what is available and how they can participate.” “Bolivia is looking at opening new markets for lithium, particularly India,” Barrientos quoted vice-minister of High Energetic Technologies Luis Alberto Echazu as saying.
“Juan Carlos Montenegro, head of state-owned company Bolivian Lithium Deposits – Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) has asked the Bolivian embassy in New Delhi to seek investors and buyers for lithium,” said the envoy. “We don’t want to be merely an exporter of raw material, but want to be part of the manufacturing process of battery plants and factories.” The NITI Aayog is expected to come out with a document in October which will finalise subsidy for this sector — critical minerals including lithium and cobalt.
“Once the NITI document is out, the SIAM and ACMA and a few MSMEs in the auto battery sector are expected to go on an exploration visit to the country,” said the envoy. Bolivia has the largest reserve of lithium in the world and it can become a strategic partner to India in providing the resource. Salt flats in highlands of Bolivia are thought to hold millions of tonne of untapped lithium reserves.
According to the US Geological Survey, the Salar de Uyuni salt flats in the country alone contain nine million tonne of lithium, over a quarter of the world’s known reserves. In total, Bolivia is estimated to possess about half of the world’s lithium. According to a NITI Aayog report titled ‘India’s Energy Storage Mission: A Make-in-India Opportunity for Globally Competitive Battery Manufacturing,’ “In line with its aspiration to achieve 100% electric vehicle (EV) sales by 2030, India can rise among the top countries in the world in manufacturing batteries. To do so, however, will require a strategy designed to overcome India’s relatively weak initial position in battery manufacturing while claiming an increasing share of total battery value over time. India’s market for EV batteries alone could be worth as much as $300 billion from 2017 to 2030.”
India has no known source of lithium and cobalt and access to these minerals is critical to the success of plan to convert most of its vehicles to electric power in about a decade or so. According to reports, India’s requirement of lithium is expected to be 350,000 tonne per year as per estimated of the auto industry, with companies like Suzuki India planning to manufacture lithium-ion batteries in India.
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