India, March 5 -- Minister of Coal and Mines, G Kishan Reddy, has expressed optimism that India will potentially be able to meet the demand for critical minerals such as lithium locally in the next three to four years.

"We need lithium for batteries of mobiles, and for solar panels. In the next three-four years, we are hopeful that we will be able to meet the demand for minerals like lithium from within the country and it will be of great help," Reddy was quoted as saying in a PTI report.

Lithium is a critical mineral used for manufacturing lithium-ion batteries, which find application in electric vehicles, smartphones and others. Its compounds are also central to the advancement of modern semiconductor technologies.

He made the commen...