India, US ink MoU to cooperate on critical battery mineral supply chains: Report

Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo inked an agreement on Thursday, 3 October 2024, to strengthen supply chains in India and the United States for critical minerals in EVs and other clean energy applications, including cobalt and lithium, Reuters reported.  

The MoU, inked on the minister's visit to Washington, was to bolster resistance in the sector for both the countries, respectively. 

The MoU further added that priority areas of focus would look at the facilitation of mutually beneficial commercial development of U.S. and Indian critical minerals exploration, extraction, processing and refining, recycling and recovery.

“While this MoU represents a positive step towards bolstering critical mineral supply chains between India and the US, to create a lot more avenues in just not the material processing but will attract investments into mining and other related sectors in critical mineral. We are expecting a dedicated Critical Raw Materials Act that aligns with the US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) would be a game-changer. Such an agreement would unlock significant benefits for Indian battery material manufacturers, including access to the $7,500 US electric vehicle tax credit. This, in turn, would attract substantial foreign investment, making large-scale manufacturing of essential components like anode graphite and cathodes in India commercially viable. We urge both governments to prioritise this critical next step and unlock the full potential of the US-India partnership in the burgeoning battery materials sector." Vikram Handa, MD, Epsilon Advanced Materials said. 

Goyal noted that the MoU would look at open supply chains for materials, technology development and investment flows to promote green energy, adding that both the countries would also need to involve third countries in their engagement, which would also encompass mineral-rich countries in Africa and South America, the newswire noted. 

The MoU does not have a provision for a full critical minerals trade deal that would enable India to benefit from the $7,500 U.S. electric vehicle tax credit, Reuters reported.