Australia and India both gain from the promise of expanding trade in lithium resources, said the Australian High Commissioner, Barry O’Farrell.

While speaking at a session of the Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce on ‘Lithium: Powering a New Australia-India Partnership’, he said both the countries stand to gain from the promise of expanding trade in lithium resources.

“Lithium, and Li-ion and other technologies, will can play a key role. Indeed, India’s ambitious renewable energy targets have led to an expansion of its clean energy commitments,” he said.

O’Farrell added, “Lithium metal-based battery technologies will form the key component of the push for the rollout of EV and hybrid vehicle–and Australia and India both stand to gain from the promise of expanding trade in lithium resources.

“As many of you are already aware, Australia is a reliable and cost-competitive supplier of resource and energy commodities. Australia is the world’s largest producer of lithium–and has the second largest lithium reserves in the world. And, as a market leader in Mining Equipment, Technology and Services (METS), our firms can contribute to the development of India’s own lithium resources,” he said.

The Australian High Commissioner mentioned that India’s ambitious renewable energy targets have led to an expansion of its clean energy commitments, recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambition to achieving 450-gigawatt renewable energy generation capacity by 2030, at the 4th India Energy Forum on 26 October last year.

“Australia’s resource endowment, and our mining capabilities and expertise, well place us to support Prime Minister Modi’s ambitions around development of India’s new economy sectors,” he opined.

He also said that there couldn’t be better timing for lithium-related trade and investment, in view of the need for both nations to diversify and strengthen the supply chain, and in recognition of India’s drive toward self-sufficiency and the remarkable growth of its new economy sectors.