Context
• India’s heavy dependence on lithium-ion batteries creates supply-chain risks due to reliance on imported critical minerals.
• Sodium-ion batteries are emerging as a safer, cheaper and less resource-intensive alternative.
Lithium-ion batteries – key points
• Widely used in mobiles, laptops, EVs, power banks and grid storage.
• Strengths: High energy density, mature technology, efficient performance.
Challenges
• Dependence on critical minerals: lithium, cobalt, nickel (mostly imported).
• High cost due to mining concentration in few countries.
• Performance drops in extreme temperatures.
• Safety issues: thermal runaway risk.
• Supply-chain vulnerability affecting EV ambitions.
Sodium-ion batteries
• Uses sodium, which is abundant in nature (seawater, salts).
• Compatible with existing Li-ion manufacturing lines (low transition cost).
• Slightly lower energy density than Li-ion, but improving rapidly.
