Mines Secretary Piyush Goyal said India is confident of building a complete electric vehicle battery ecosystem within the next two to three years and outlined a strategy covering lithium sourcing, processing, global acquisitions and mining reforms. He said the government expects rapid scale up in downstream capacity to support electric vehicle adoption and reduce import dependence. The remarks were made during an interaction with reporters in New Delhi.

Goyal said lithium remains central to the clean energy transition as lithium ion technology dominates batteries, while domestic lithium availability is limited and brine reserves are more common in South America. He noted that spodumene typically contains lithium in the range of one to six per cent and can be imported for further processing, and that domestic companies already possess the technology. He urged development of conversion facilities at scale to retain value addition.

He said the government is finalising a policy on processing critical minerals and has identified two key resources for electric vehicles, with incentives under consideration to encourage firms to establish lithium and nickel processing facilities. To secure supplies the country is pursuing mineral assets in South America, Australia and Canada and a consortium of public sector undertakings including Hindustan Copper Limited is bidding for overseas blocks, including copper assets in Chile. International collaborations for technology and resource access are being evaluated.

Efforts are under way to recover critical minerals from industrial waste such as red mud, tailings and fly ash, and production of gallium and cadmium has begun while work on tantalum continues though private firms remain cautious due to high capital requirements. Under the National Critical Mineral Mission 46 blocks have been auctioned against a target of 100 and a separate scheme to strengthen the value chain is in advanced stages. The Secretary highlighted mining reforms that saw 212 blocks auctioned in 2025-26, the National Geoscience Data Repository hosting 90,000 exploration reports, faster operationalisation with 25 mines becoming operational in the past year, and copper ore imports valued at Rs 430 billion (Rs 430 bn) processed domestically.