EU and India Launch €15.2 Million Battery Recycling Initiative with Pilot Plant Focus

The European Union and India have launched a €15.2 million joint initiative aimed at advancing electric vehicle battery recycling technologies and establishing a pilot-scale recycling facility in India.

According to industry reports, the programme was announced under the EU-India Trade and Technology Council (TTC), through its working group on green and clean energy technologies. Funding will be provided jointly through the EU’s Horizon Europe programme and India’s Ministry of Heavy Industries.

The initiative opens a competitive funding process for companies, startups, SMEs, universities and research institutions from both regions. Applications will remain open until September 15.

The programme is designed to accelerate the development of advanced recycling systems capable of recovering lithium and other battery materials at higher purity levels while strengthening local processing capabilities in India.

A central component of the initiative is the planned pilot plant in India, which will be used to validate recycling technologies under industrial conditions. The project will focus on recovering strategic materials including lithium, graphite and cobalt from end-of-life batteries and production scrap.

Technical priorities include high-yield recovery of lithium and cathode-active materials, recycling systems capable of handling mixed battery chemistries, and digitalised collection and sorting infrastructure. The programme also includes research into second-life battery diagnostics and safety monitoring systems.

The EU and India said the collaboration is intended to reduce dependence on imported critical minerals and overseas refining capacity, particularly as electric vehicle adoption accelerates globally and competition for battery raw materials intensifies.

The initiative also reflects growing efforts by both regions to localise more of the battery supply chain, from recycling and refining to cell manufacturing. India has been expanding policy support for domestic battery production and critical mineral recovery, while the EU continues to tighten circular economy and battery sustainability requirements under its battery regulations framework.

Hervé Delphin, ambassador of the European Union to India, said the partnership aims to move technologies beyond laboratory development into commercial deployment. “Our goal is to take these innovations all the way from development to real-world implementation, representing a direct investment in mineral security and shared climate objectives,” he said.

Dr. Parvinder Maini, scientific secretary in the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, said the project could help establish battery waste as a domestic resource stream while supporting a more formalised collection system. He added that the programme seeks to integrate informal-sector participation into safer and more digitalised logistics models.

The pilot programme comes as governments and industry groups increasingly view end-of-life batteries as a strategic source of critical raw materials, particularly in markets seeking to reduce reliance on imported feedstocks and external processing infrastructure.

Source: europa.eu

SUNSHINE Spotlight: The EU and India are increasing focus on battery recycling infrastructure as competition for critical minerals pushes governments to localise material recovery and refining capacity.