Lithium discovery in Reasi district may be India’s next big story: Dr Jitendra

Mussoorie, Nov 27: Union minister Dr Jitendra Singh today said that the discovery of Lithium in Reasi district may well turn out to be “India’s next big story”, giving a multifold boost to the country's economy.

“Analysis suggests that the value of Lithium deposits in Reasi may be higher than China,” he said, stating that Lithium is a key component in rechargeable batteries and there is huge demand for Lithium as the world turns to renewable energy.

According to a press release, he was addressing the inaugural session of 7th batch of capacity building programme in field administration for senior officers of Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Service (JKAS) at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) here.

Stating that an increasing number of items from J&K have been geo-tagged, Dr Jitendra Singh called upon the J&K Administration officers to promote sales of GI-tagged products from the UT to boost the local economy.

The union minister said, ever since prime minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014, he has made it a commitment to bring the neglected and remote regions of India including J&K, Ladakh, islands and the NER to the national mainstream.

PM Modi has “walked the talk”, said Dr Jitendra Singh pointing out that J&K today has an express corridor, tallest rail bridge that would soon link the Kashmir Valley with the railway network and a number of projects of national importance have been fast-tracked, ensuring that development touches the lives of citizens of J&K.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that PM Modi has introduced several governance reforms towards socio-economic uplift of people. Public policy in our country is currently aimed at enhanced transparency and accountability in governance with focus on fiscal federalism, transforming rural India, and improving the quality of public service delivery, he said.

He asked the JKAS officers to be catalysts of centre's governance reforms. “I appeal to you to be catalysts of centre's governance reforms introduced by PM Narendra Modi and help their effective implementation in Jammu & Kashmir,”Dr Singh said.

He stated that Jammu and Kashmir and the unexplored North-Eastern Region (NER) have huge natural resources that would drive India’s future growth story during the Amrit Kaal towards attaining a Viksit Bharat at 2047.

The value addition to India’s growth is going to come from these unexplored regions during the next 25 years, he said.