INDIA’S HURRIED EV EXPANSION PLAN IS UNSUSTAINABLE AND LACKS LOGIC
THE COUNTRY IS 80 PERCENT IMPORT DEPENDENT ON CHINA FOR LITHIUM
2024-04-15 12:32
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At a time when the countries such as the United States, Japan and South Korea are going slow on electric vehicles (EVs) for various reasons, it is difficult to understand why India is going gaga over its utility, substantially raising the EV production and sales targets in the next five years. India does not even produce the key strategic mineral, lithium, required to manufacture batteries for EVs. Although the country has almost a dozen lithium battery manufacturers for EVs, the country is nearly 80 percent dependent on China, India’s No.1 foe across all its borders, for the supply of lithium and lithium-ion. Such a heavy reliance on China for a strategic raw material such as lithium to make EV batteries could put India’s new age vehicles manufacturing plan at risk if the current tensions between the two countries persists or even escalates.