Pakistan tests 2,000 water samples for lithium as battery imports hit 5.39GWh
Pakistan has begun screening more than 2,000 underground water samples for lithium and rare earth elements, as the country's imports of lithium-ion batteries reach 5.39 gigawatt-hours. The Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) signed an agreement with the Pakistan Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (PINSTECH) to analyse samples drawn from selected wells, according to Token Times.
An initial pilot study found a lithium concentration of 291 milligrams per litre in water from the Wahid Bakhsh-01 well in Sindh. OGDCL's own framing is cautious: the preliminary result does not establish the size of Pakistan's commercially recoverable lithium reserves or whether they can be extracted economically. Further scientific investigation is needed before any resource estimate can be made.
The demand side is less ambiguous. Data compiled by the Pakistan Solar Association put lithium-ion battery imports at about 5.39 gigawatt-hours between January 2025 and May 2026, valued at roughly $256.94 million. Solar energy storage, household backup systems, industrial operations and electric vehicles are driving the purchases, and the association sees room for local battery production and assembly to cut reliance on imports.
Manufacturing proposals are already on the table. Work is reportedly under way with Chinese partners and local investors on a proposed $2.25 billion lithium-ion battery factory in Rawalpindi, alongside a separate plan for a plant in Karachi's Korangi industrial area. Both depend on investment, regulatory approvals and completion, so neither capacity nor timelines are settled.
The Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum is being positioned as a venue to draw international capital into mineral exploration, battery manufacturing, recycling and energy storage. For Pakistan, the test is whether a single promising well in Sindh can be turned into a resource estimate credible enough to anchor that investment.
