India approves $297m incentive policy for lithium, nickel processing

India‘s cabinet approved on Wednesday an incentive policy worth 28.14-billion rupees ($297-million) to boost domestic processing of lithium and nickel, the government said in a statement, in a move aimed at reducing the country’s reliance on supply chains dominated by China.

India has a high import dependence on critical minerals such as lithium, and tighter conditions following export controls by China create potential supply-chain vulnerability, the government had said in March.

On Wednesday, it unveiled a programme seeking to bolster processing of lithium and nickel ores and intermediary products into high purity compounds.

It listed electric mobility, battery energy storage systems, electronics, defence and speciality steel as beneficiaries of the programme.

“Processing of critical minerals remains geographically concentrated in a few global locations. This exposes supply chains to geopolitical disruptions, price volatility, and potential supply restrictions,” the statement said.

This has implications for national security and economic sovereignty, it said.

The programme would push India towards self-reliance and support the development of domestic processing infrastructure, it added.