Mining: Coal India, NMDC, ONGC will explore lithium abroad, Mines Secretary informed

Public sector companies Coal India, NMDC and ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) will start exploring for critical mineral lithium abroad, the government said on Wednesday. ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) is the foreign investment arm of the public sector oil and natural gas corporation.

These Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) already have some kind of presence abroad. “The Group of Secretaries (on resources) has decided that these companies (Coal India, NMDC, ONGC Videsh Ltd) should go ahead and mine the critical mineral abroad,” Mines Secretary VL Kantha Rao said during a workshop on offshore mining. Also pay attention. This is an easy way. These companies are already doing business abroad.

He said public sector Coal India is actively working on some lithium blocks in Chile. Rao said, “Coal India is becoming active… NMDC is already active in Australia. They have some gold mines in Australia and they are also looking at lithium mines in Australia.”

Critical minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare elements are essential components in many of the fastest growing clean energy technologies today, from wind turbines and power networks to electric vehicles. With the acceleration of clean energy transition, the demand for these minerals is also increasing rapidly.