India, Australia look at increasing cooperation in critical minerals, processing
critical minerals and their processing besides battery production, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said on Monday. Both countries have signed an interim free trade agreement and are in negotiations to expand that into a comprehensive pact, he said.
«We are looking at how we can integrate our (India and Australia) economies in terms of battery production, in terms of mineral production, in terms of mineral processing, in terms of vehicle production,» the secretary said here at a conference on the roadmap for vehicle electrification.
He also said that the government has taken a series of steps to promote domestic manufacturing of electric vehicles (EVs) and strengthened the ecosystem around that like boosting charging infrastructure.
Speaking at the event, Australian High Commissioner to India Philip Green OAM said they have huge mineral and energy resources that can support 'make in India'.
Australia has strong reserves of critical minerals and is the largest producer of lithium and the second largest producer of cobalt in the world.
«We want to make India able to get easier 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 essential components in many of today's rapidly growing clean energy technologies — from wind turbines and electricity networks to electric vehicles.
Demand
