India, US Co-investing In Lithium Resource Project In South America: Report

State-run Coal India along with a United States (US) company is exploring lithium blocks in Argentina to secure supplies of the battery material, Reuters reported on Tuesday while citing sources. This partnership is under India's membership to the US-led Minerals Security Partnership (MSP), which New Delhi joined last year to ensure adequate supplies of minerals to meet zero-carbon goals.

On Monday, India and the United States said that they were co-investing in a lithium resource project in South America and a rare earth deposit in Africa to diversify critical minerals supply chains.

The US is one of several countries that India has been in talks with to collaborate in lithium processing and not depend on China, Reuters reported.

"Coal India has come forward for the Kachi block in Argentina in which a US company and two other countries are interested in exploring under the MSP," according to the report which cited a source and added that preliminary studies are being conducted.

In February, on a trip to Argentina, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a statement that the US was exploring investment opportunities in critical minerals, especially lithium. 

India joined the minerals partnership last year under which New Delhi was invited to participate in 20-25 critical minerals projects, of which four have been identified by the Indian government. Two of these are in collaboration with the US, the source said, adding that the second project is in the Kangankunde block in Malawi, which is being explored by India's state-owned IREL (India) for rare earths.

The Indian government has also asked miners to explore critical minerals in Australia's Dubbo region, the source confirmed.

They added that a critical minerals trade deal with the US was also proposed by India to prohibit the imposition of tariffs on both countries by each other. The pact would be similar to the pact the US has with Japan granting Japanese automakers wider access to US electrical vehicles tax credit.

On Monday both the countries confirmed that they are in talks for a bilateral Critical Minerals Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

(With Reuters input)