India’s First Lithium Grade Refinery | 07 Mar 2025

Why in News? 

Lohum Company launched India's first lithium grade refinery in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. 

  Key Points  

  • Production capacity and efficiency: 
    • This refinery will produce  1,000 metric tonnes of battery-grade lithium annually. Its capacity will increase to 20 thousand tonnes in the year 2029. 
    • The black mass generated from e-waste will be recycled and lithium will be emitted from it.  
    • Additionally, the company is expanding its capabilities in the production of Cathode Active Material (CAM) , an essential component for large-scale lithium-ion battery production. 
    • The company is currently refining more than 90% of lithium in India. 
    • According to the company, its technical efficiency is competitive with that of China and more economical than US/European facilities. 
  • Lithium refining: 
    • Lithium-ion batteries are widely used in electric vehicles (EVs), smartphones, laptops, and other electronic devices. 
    • The demand for electric vehicles and battery storage is going to increase rapidly in India in the coming years, which will also increase the need for lithium . 
    • A large portion of India's lithium supply comes from China , which poses a strategic and economic challenge for India.  
    • This expansion of Lohum will play an important role in freeing India from this dependence. 

 Lithium  

  • Introduction: 
  • About: 
    • It is a chemical element whose symbol is  (Li) . 
    • It is a soft and silver-white metal . 
    • It is the lightest metal and the lightest solid element under standard conditions . 
    • It is highly reactive and flammable , so must be stored as mineral oil. 
    • It is alkaline and a rare metal . 
    • Alkali metals include the chemical elements lithium, sodium, potassium, rubidium, cesium and francium. Together with hydrogen, they form group-1 which is located in the s-block of the Periodic Table. 
    • Rare Metals (RM) include Niobium (Nb), Tantalum (Ta), Lithium (Li), Beryllium (Be), Cesium (Cs) etc. and Rare Earths (RE) include Scandium (Sc) and Yttrium (Y) besides Lanthanum (La) to Lutetium (Lu). 
    • Due to their strategic importance, these metals are used in nuclear and other high-tech industries like electronics, telecommunication, information technology, space, defence etc.