Gadkari believes the recently found lithium reserve in J&K will play key role in that
Lithium is a key mineral to make EV batteries
A huge 5.9 million tonne lithium reserve has been found recently in J&K
This would help in reducing India's current 1,200 tonne annual lithium import
Global lithium supply chain is majorly controlled by China
From current geo-political angle too, India's huge lithium reserve will be key to become self-dependent
The lithium found in India is claimed as the best quality one required to make EV batteries
However, to extract lithium from mine and make it ready for EV battery, India needs really good infrastructure
Then only India can aim to become world's number one electric vehicle manufacturer