India and Australia are looking at many ways to increase cooperation in critical minerals and their processing, besides battery production, says, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal. An interim free trade agreement was signed by both countries and are in discussions to increase that into a comprehensive pact. We are looking at several ways on how we can fit in our Indian and Australian economies in terms of mineral processing, battery production, mineral production, and terms of vehicle production, the secretary said here at a conference on the roadmap for vehicle electrification organized by India Energy Storage Alliance (IESA). IESA is a leading industry alliance that mainly focuses on the development of advanced energy storage, e-mobility, green hydrogen, and emerging technologies in India.
Founded in 2012 by Customized Energy Solutions (CES), IESA’s vision is to make India a global hub for R&D, manufacturing, and adoption of advanced energy storage, e-mobility, and green hydrogen technologies. Barthwal also said that the government has taken many steps to promote domestic manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs) and strengthened the ecosystem around that, such as boosting charging infrastructure. Australian High Commissioner to India Philip Green OAM said they have massive mineral and energy resources that can support ‘make in India’.
Australia is the largest producer of lithium and has strong reserves of critical minerals and the second largest producer of cobalt in the world. We want to make India able to get convenient access to all of the critical minerals and other capabilities in our society that can help India’s green transition, and the only way we can achieve that is by a full free trade agreement, he said. Critical minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, and rare earth elements are important components in many of today’s rapidly growing clean energy technologies – from wind turbines and electricity networks to electric vehicles.
Demand for these minerals is growing fast, with clean energy transitions gathering pace. Barthwal also added that India has signed a trade pact like Australia, with the four-nation European bloc EFTA, and Norway is an important member of that grouping. Norway has done extremely well in terms of the renewable energy sector and we are working together with Norway. Similarly, we are working together with the European Union.
We have a technology group where we are looking at different technologies in mineral processing, critical technologies, vehicle making, and battery making he said, adding this is the time when each and everyone in the globe has to join hands together because this energy transition requirements and the commitment to reduce carbon emissions is for all.
In India speaking about the huge opportunities in the EV sector, Barthwal said that the sale of EVs is increasing at a faster pace in the country and that it needs a whole ecosystem, not only EV manufacturing but also battery making and charging ecosystem. Through the energy transition, a whole range of activities is going to open up in the country, and there is a lot to do both by the private sector and government therefore a great opportunity is coming for investors to invest in this whole value chain, says the secretary.
The government, he said, is focusing on the whole chain, including the production of minerals. In India, the mines ministry is looking at resources as well as in the universal supply chain.We understand that this is an upcoming sector, and there are disabilities and constraints and therefore we are looking at how to provide a system of a level playing field, a system of incentives so that the sector grows in India, says Barthwal.
At present, around 1.7 million EVs have been sold in the country. The government has rolled out programs like Faster Adoption & Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) and production-linked incentive schemes for the sector. We are looking at the whole gamut of the value chain so that disabilities of manufacturers can be removed, he said.
The Centre, he said, is also having discussions with states to promote ease of doing business for the sector and on land availability for manufacturing and production. To encourage investment, we are trying to create an ecosystem that is close to around USD 500 billion of potential. So, I think, it’s a huge opportunity, he added.
