JK Lithium: Central government will soon conduct auction of Reasi lithium site, many companies including Adani-Ambani in the race

 The Government of India is considering a plan to fix royalty on lithium mining at the rate of three per cent.  For this, mining companies will have to pay three per cent of the prices prevailing on the London Metal Exchange (LME) to extract lithium, according to two government sources.  India is making a lot of efforts to ensure the supply of lithium. Lithium is very important for making batteries of electric vehicles.  In February, the first lithium deposit in India was found in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.  The government is expected to auction lithium blocks with estimated reserves of 5.9 million tonnes later this year. Sources said Adani Enterprises, Vedanta Ltd, Reliance Industries, Jindal Steel & Power Ltd, Himadri Chemicals and Korea's LX International  At least a dozen Indian and foreign companies are likely to participate in the auction.

 No response has been received from the Ministry of Mines yet.  Sources said India has in the past also fixed royalty rates for bauxite mining on the basis of LME. According to sources, the royalty received from lithium mining will be paid to the local administration of Jammu and Kashmir.  This will be a major step towards auctioning the country's first lithium block.  India's federal Ministry of Mines sets royalty rates, but the revenue goes to state governments or union territories.