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The Centre plans to roll out a new incentive scheme soon to boost the domestic processing of lithium and nickel, two critical minerals required for the battery manufacturing ecosystem, a top official said on Tuesday. 

"Very soon, we will be launching our scheme for lithium and nickel," Mines Secretary Keshav Chandra said at the 60th Annual General Meeting of the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI).

Further details of the scheme will be announced after the required approvals are received, he told the journalists on the sidelines of the industry event

Lithium is an important input for lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles, consumer electronics and battery energy-storage systems, while nickel is widely used in stainless steel manufacturing as well as in high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries.

The government has already identified Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Gujarat, and Maharashtra as the four states in which critical mineral processing plants will be set up.

Keshav Chandra said the government is looking at every park as a complete ecosystem for a particular mineral. Accordingly, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh are looking at rare earth processing, while Odisha and Maharashtra are set to focus on nickel and lithium, respectively.

"All of them are doing a fantastic job. Within a short period, they have identified the sources of minerals, the manner in which they will be processed and the downstream industries that can be developed," he remarked.

The Mines Secretary pointed out that Gujarat already has availability of heavy rare earth elements and has developed the beneficiation and processing technology. Andhra Pradesh has also been identified for developing a rare earth corridor, while Odisha is being considered for nickel as the state has its own nickel reserves. The state’s location in east India could make it easier to process imported nickel from Indonesia and other countries, where the mineral is available in abundance, he said.