KOLKATA (miningweekly.com) – Civil unrest and violence in Chile and prospects of tougher security norms, together with unrelenting protests over a disputed electoral process in Bolivia, have thrown a spanner in the wheels of Indian mining companies getting a toe-hold in the so-called ‘Lithium Triangle’.

As protestors continue to hit the streets, with widespread reports of violence, snowballing into a deeper anti-government movement, India’s recent push for lithium assets in Latin America is being forced to the backburner, if not becoming unstuck completely.

The perception among Indian mining companies planning forays in search of lithium assets in Latin America is that though unrest and violence in Chile was triggered by a marginal hike in subway fares, opposition to the right-of-center neoliberal economic policy of the incumbent Chilean government is at the heart of civil movement.

In Bolivia, protests and marches have also been occurring in response to claims of electoral fraud in the 2019 general elections. The increasingly violent uprising reached a tipping point on Sunday, when the military pulled its support and President Evo Morales announced his resignation.

The unrest and protests in the Latin American countries have undermined the Indian government’s efforts to back domestic mining companies to at least formalise collaborations in Chile and Bolivia.

Recently, a delegation of the National Institute for Transformation of India Commission, led by member V K Saraswat, visited Chile and Bolivia to review bilateral agreements concluded earlier this year towards setting up Indian joint ventures (JV) for exploration, production of lithium and shipping back part of the production to India.

The delegation also explored possibilities of Indian companies investing in copper, gold and molybdenum assets in Chile.

In August, government-owned mineral companies, at the behest of the Mines Ministry, floated Khanij Videsh India Limited (Kabil) – a JV of National Aluminium Company, Hindustan Copper and Mineral Exploration Company – exclusively dedicated to secure critical mineral resources like lithium and cobalt, overseas.

The Mines Ministry’s directive to the newly floated JV was to finalise collaborations in key resource-rich countries before the end of the current financial year.

In support of Kabil’s planned ventures overseas, particularly in Latin America, the Indian government has set up working groups with government agencies in Bolivia and Chile to identify exploration and production of battery making inputs, value addition thresholds of proposed ventures and options for shipping back raw materials to India.

However, such plans were now at risk of being put on the backburner owing to the political climate in Chile and Bolivia, government officials here said, noting that the current reality was not conducive to pushing foreign direct investment in natural resource projects.