{"id":86248,"date":"2026-05-26T10:30:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T09:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/?post_type=news&p=86248"},"modified":"2026-05-26T10:30:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T09:30:52","slug":"from-import-dependence-to-energy-sovereignty-how-recycling-batteries-can-help-secure-indias-sustainable-energy-future","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.lse.ac.uk\/granthaminstitute\/news\/from-import-dependence-to-energy-sovereignty-how-recycling-batteries-can-help-secure-indias-sustainable-energy-future\/","title":{"rendered":"From import dependence to energy sovereignty: how recycling batteries can help secure India\u2019s sustainable energy future"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Policy and financial interventions to support the more efficient recycling of batteries in India can turn a potential critical mineral and waste-management crisis into a strategic energy-security advantage, argue Prasad Ashok Thakur and Labanya Prakash Jena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As India moves towards a sustainable energy future, demand for lithium-ion batteries, a key component in almost all green technologies<\/path><\/svg><\/a>, including electric vehicles, consumer electronics, solar panels and energy storage, is set to surge. Yet despite being the world’s sixth largest economy, India is not mining or processing lithium and currently imports 100% of the lithium it needs. In 2025-26 alone, it spent US$4.7 billion on lithium imports: a nearly ninefold increase since 2018, and demand is expected to grow more than tenfold over the next 15 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Efficient recycling of lithium batteries offers a solution: recovering up to 80% of lithium from end-of-life batteries could significantly reduce India’s dependence on imports of critical minerals and help to establish a resilient, circular battery supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recycling also plays an important role in reducing the need for critical mineral mining and managing the risk of hazardous substances. Mining lithium, as with other critical minerals, is environmentally polluting and highly inefficient: 250 tonnes of lithium ore are needed to extract one tonne of lithium<\/path><\/svg><\/a>. Products that use critical minerals can also cause environmental and social disasters if their end of life is not handled responsibly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supporting the green transition and creating economic opportunities  <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Recycling batteries can play a crucial role in India’s green transition plan. In 2025, there was only 19 kilotonnes of lithium-ion batteries available for recycling in India, but this is expected to increase to 233 kilotonnes by 2035<\/path><\/svg><\/a>, which can meaningfully contribute to India’s demand for lithium. Recycling can also contribute to India’s goal of creating more green jobs. A Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) report estimates<\/path><\/svg><\/a> that by 2050, India’s battery recycling can not only avoid more than 2.75 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (CO2<\/sub>e) but also generate more than 100,000 green jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does India compare with other regions on battery recycling?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Europe, the USA and China are all actively adopting ambitious lithium-ion battery recycling policies. The EU has set targets to collect 73% of end-of-life portable batteries by 2030; the US aims to achieve cost-efficient recycling and 100% recovery of waste lithium-ion batteries; while China<\/path><\/svg><\/a> aims to achieve more than 85% recovery of lithium from waste batteries. Currently, the EU is leading the critical minerals recycling market, with more than 50% of its base metal demand<\/path><\/svg><\/a> met by recycled metals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

India has its own policies designed to promote mineral recycling and recovery. In its Union Budget 2025-26, India announced full exemption from import duties on waste and scrap of critical minerals such as cobalt, copper and lithium-ion batteries. However, significant challenges must be overcome to scale up rates of battery recycling in India, spanning technologies, supply chains, and enforcement of policies and regulations, particularly on traceability – where a digital identity for batteries, enables manufacturers, consumers and recyclers to track a battery’s journey from production to end-of-life. This supports compliance and a more transparent and circular supply chain. As you move towards a greener future, these measures ensure that batteries, while powering devices and vehicles, do not come at the cost of the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Financing breakthrough recycling technologies<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Battery recycling provides quantifiable returns through the recovery of high-value materials. And innovations in processes to ensure safe battery dismantling as well as hydrometallurgical recycling – an eco-friendly process that uses water-based chemistry to extract high-purity metals – are critical enablers of the battery recycling supply chain. Developing the right financing plays an important role in supporting these innovations through instruments tailored to different actors in the recycling market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To support early-stage innovators, private equity and venture capital are suitable, as these businesses have an appetite for high-risk, high-return transactions. Indeed, a World Economic Forum report states that private equity and venture capital firms are actively seeking startups that can meet the EU battery recycling targets<\/path><\/svg><\/a> to recover critical raw materials from lithium-ion batteries. Long-term (or ‘patient’) research and development (R&D) loans, grants or public–private funding bridges can be used to support innovation to address challenges such as extracting materials at high-enough levels of purity for use. More general recycling solutions designed for a range of batteries are better placed to obtain technical and financial support through channels such as India’s Research, Development and Innovation Fund<\/path><\/svg><\/a>. Through this fund, the Indian government can also become an early-stage equity investor in emerging technologies, achieving recycling goals for critical minerals supply chains as well as generating an attractive return.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Providing fiscal support for recycling<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Commissioning new battery recycling facilities requires substantial investment in property, machinery and technology, as well as research and development infrastructure. A lithium-ion battery recycling facility in India with an average annual capacity of 6,000 tonnes requires capital expenditure of around $US10 million<\/path><\/svg><\/a>. But the most significant risks to the profitability of recycling businesses stem from variations in the prices of recovered materials<\/path><\/svg><\/a> and regulatory uncertainty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Currently, the Indian policy framework relies on providing dedicated grants for recycling businesses to reduce these investment risks. But other steps could be taken to help manage these risks and support businesses. These include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n