The Centre has lifted the ban on private parties to mine lithium.

The Union cabinet has approved amendments to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act to allow the commercial mining of lithium and five more minerals, officials said.

The minerals — lithium, beryllium, titanium, niobium, tantalum and zirconium - have uses in the space tech industry, electronics, communication and will help in India’s energy transition.

The government is likely to move the proposed amendment in the forthcoming monsoon session of Parliament.

Companies will be allowed to suggest areas they want to explore, a major change from the usual practice where blocks or mines are identified by the government for auction.

The country is dependent on the imports for most of these minerals. The proposed amendments will remove these six minerals from the so-called Atomic Minerals list.

The demand of minerals such as lithium is likely to increase manifold as the focus shifts towards clean energy and meeting India’s net-zero emission commitment.

The country has recently discovered 5.9 million tonnes of lithium reserves in Jammu and Kashmir. Exploration activity is underway in Kashmir’s Salal-Hamima region in Reasi, and India is hopeful of finding more lithium reserves.