Khanij Bidesh India (KABIL) has signed an agreement with the Argentina-based mining company Catamarca Minera Y Energetica Sociedad Del Estado (CAMYEN SE) for the exploration and development of five lithium brine blocks, as the South Asian nation looks to secure supply of the soft metal used in batteries of everything from electric vehicles to smartphones.

The government claimed this to be the first-ever lithium exploration and mining project by a government company of India and aims to bring in technical & operational experience for brine-type lithium exploration, exploitation, and extraction.

The brines, located in the Catamarca province of Argentina, cover an area of about 15,703 hectares. The project is expected to cost about ₹2 billion ($24 million), KABIL said in a statement.

Brines containing lithium, such as those found in salt flats or underground reservoirs, are pumped up to the surface and then spread in large shallow ponds for evaporation, thus increasing the lithium concentration of the brine, which is then processed to extract the metal. This is different from mining, where lithium stored in rocks is processed for extraction.

KABIL is a government company set up to identify, acquire, develop, process, and make commercial use of strategic minerals in overseas locations for supply in India. It will set up a branch office in Catamarca, Argentina.

Argentina is part of the “Lithium Triangle” along with Chile and Bolivia, with more than half of the world’s total lithium resources.

Lithium’s strategic importance in the transition to a greener economy has prompted the Indian government to secure its own supply of the metal.

Last year in May, India discovered its own deposits of lithium in the state of Rajasthan. The deposits are said to be large enough to meet 80% of India’s lithium demand.

According to a World Bank report, the global demand for lithium will increase by 500% by 2050.

The Ministry of Heavy Industries is in the process of setting up 50 GWh of Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) capacity for energy storage under the Performance Linked Incentives program. It has already allocated 30 GWh of capacity and recently announced that it would re-issue the tender for manufacturing the unallocated 20 GWh.