Altmin becomes first Indian project to be listed with MSP

HYDERABAD: Battery materials and supply chain player Altmin Private Ltd 's proposed $250 million (approx Rs 2200 crore) greenfield lithium refining project in Brazil has become the first project from India to be listed with the Minerals Security Partnership (MSP).

MSP is a US-led alliance of 14 countries and the European Commission that focuses on securing and diversifying global supply chains for critical minerals. It also helps projects listed with it in raising public and private investments.

The proposed project will have a capacity to refine spodumene ore into 32,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate , a critical component for lithium-ion battery production, Anjani Sri Mourya Sunkavalli, founder & managing director, Altmin, told TOI.

"We are looking to commission the refinery within two years from the groundbreaking," he said, pointing out that it will play a crucial role in helping India diversify its critical minerals supply chain away from China, which has a monopoly, and will also make it 'Atmanirbhar' as lithium is critical for clean energy transition, electric mobility, and sustainable technologies.

Altmin plans to set the project up in technological collaboration with Brazilian company Companhia Brasileira de Litio (CBL), which is into lithium mining and refining.

Currently, the company is in talks with public sector companies, including Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL), as well as private sector players for strategic and financial support for this critical MSP project as well as other critical mineral projects. The listing of this project comes even as Altmin is in the midst of a strategic acquisition of a lithium refinery in Brazil. The Hyderabad-based startup is already setting up India's first lithium iron phosphate cathode gigafactory at Divitipally in Telangana at an investment of ₹750 crore.