<p>Indian officials will visit Chile next week to discuss plans for four state companies to take a stake in two lithium projects of the world's No. 2 producer of the metal, SQM, a source said.</p>.<p>The world's fastest-growing major economy has ramped up efforts to secure a steady supply of lithium as demand rises for the metal used in electric vehicle batteries, key to emissions reduction efforts in the world's third-largest emitter.</p>.<p>Government-backed Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL), Coal India, Oil India, and ONGC Videsh are in talks with SQM for stakes of 20% in its Mount Holland and Andover projects in Australia, Reuters reported last week.</p>.Saudi Arabia has extracted lithium from oilfield runoffs.<p>The Indian delegation will hold discussions with top SQM executives when it travels to Chile next week for a global copper conference, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the talks were not public.</p>.<p>Executives from state-run Hindustan Copper and leading private copper firms Hindalco Industries and JSW are also expected to visit Chile, the source said.</p>.<p>Hindustan Copper told Reuters it will send a few executives to Chile to attend the copper conference and hold other meetings.</p>.<p>The mines ministry, Hindalco, and JSW did not respond to emails from Reuters to seek comments.</p>.<p>India and Chile held talks this week to renew a preliminary pact on geology and mineral resources.</p>.<p>This week Chile's state-owned Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, said it would supply copper concentrates to the $1.2-billion smelter of India's Adani Group, which is the world's largest single-location plant of its kind.</p>.<p>Codelco has also signed a separate preliminary pact with HindustanCopper to collaborate on exploring and processing minerals.</p><p>India's copper imports have surged since the 2018 closure of Vedanta's Sterlite Copper smelter, which produced around 400,000 metric tons of the metal.</p><p>It has recently stepped efforts to strike overseas deals for access to critical minerals in resource-rich countries such as Argentina, Australia, and Chile.</p><p>New Delhi is also exploring an initial agreement with cobalt-rich Congo. </p>
<p>Indian officials will visit Chile next week to discuss plans for four state companies to take a stake in two lithium projects of the world's No. 2 producer of the metal, SQM, a source said.</p>.<p>The world's fastest-growing major economy has ramped up efforts to secure a steady supply of lithium as demand rises for the metal used in electric vehicle batteries, key to emissions reduction efforts in the world's third-largest emitter.</p>.<p>Government-backed Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL), Coal India, Oil India, and ONGC Videsh are in talks with SQM for stakes of 20% in its Mount Holland and Andover projects in Australia, Reuters reported last week.</p>.Saudi Arabia has extracted lithium from oilfield runoffs.<p>The Indian delegation will hold discussions with top SQM executives when it travels to Chile next week for a global copper conference, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity as the talks were not public.</p>.<p>Executives from state-run Hindustan Copper and leading private copper firms Hindalco Industries and JSW are also expected to visit Chile, the source said.</p>.<p>Hindustan Copper told Reuters it will send a few executives to Chile to attend the copper conference and hold other meetings.</p>.<p>The mines ministry, Hindalco, and JSW did not respond to emails from Reuters to seek comments.</p>.<p>India and Chile held talks this week to renew a preliminary pact on geology and mineral resources.</p>.<p>This week Chile's state-owned Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, said it would supply copper concentrates to the $1.2-billion smelter of India's Adani Group, which is the world's largest single-location plant of its kind.</p>.<p>Codelco has also signed a separate preliminary pact with HindustanCopper to collaborate on exploring and processing minerals.</p><p>India's copper imports have surged since the 2018 closure of Vedanta's Sterlite Copper smelter, which produced around 400,000 metric tons of the metal.</p><p>It has recently stepped efforts to strike overseas deals for access to critical minerals in resource-rich countries such as Argentina, Australia, and Chile.</p><p>New Delhi is also exploring an initial agreement with cobalt-rich Congo. </p>