Source: PIB| Date: May 5, 2026
1. At a Glance: Key Facts
|
Initiative |
3rd Coordinated Call for Proposals on Recycling of EV Batteries |
|
Framework |
India-EU Trade & Technology Council (TTC) - Working Group 2 |
|
Focus Area |
Green and Clean Energy Technologies |
|
Total Funding |
€15.2 Million (~₹169 Crore) |
|
EU Funding Source |
Horizon Europe Programme |
|
Indian Funding |
Ministry of Heavy Industries (MHI) |
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Announcement Date |
5 May 2026 |
|
Submission Deadline |
15 September 2026 |
|
Physical Deliverable |
Joint India-EU Pilot Line to be established in India |
2. Background & Context
2.1 The India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC)
The India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) was established as a high-level platform for bilateral coordination on trade, trusted technology, and security. Modelled loosely on the EU-US TTC, it reflects the strategic deepening of ties between New Delhi and Brussels, especially in areas of mutual dependence; critical minerals, clean energy, and digital infrastructure. Working Group 2 of the TTC is specifically focused on Green and Clean Energy Technologies, making it the natural institutional home for EV battery cooperation.
2.2 Why EV Battery Recycling? Why Now?
The global transition to electric mobility is accelerating at an unprecedented pace. India, one of the world's largest automotive markets, has set ambitious EV penetration targets under schemes such as PM E-DRIVE, FAME-II, and the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for Advanced Chemistry Cells (ACC). As EV sales surge, the downstream challenge of battery end-of-life management is emerging as a critical policy frontier.
Lithium-ion batteries; the dominant chemistry in EV applications; contain valuable and often geopolitically sensitive materials including lithium, cobalt, graphite, nickel, and manganese. Most of these are mined in a handful of countries, and supply chains remain concentrated and vulnerable. Recycling offers the dual benefit of reducing import dependence and lowering the environmental footprint of battery production.
For the European Union, the context is equally urgent. The EU Critical Raw Materials Act (2024) identifies lithium and cobalt as strategic raw materials and sets ambitious domestic recycling targets. The EU Battery Regulation (effective 2024 onwards) mandates minimum recycled content in new batteries; creating a direct industrial demand for recycled battery-grade materials. The Horizon Europe programme, which funds this initiative, is the EU's flagship research and innovation programme with a €95.5 billion budget for 2021-2027.
3. What the Initiative Entails
3.1 Technical Focus Areas
The call for proposals has been designed around four core pillars:
|
Pillar |
Description |
|
High Recovery Rates |
Development of advanced metallurgical and hydrometallurgical processes to recover the maximum possible quantity of critical materials such as lithium, cobalt, and graphite from spent EV batteries, improving upon existing recovery efficiencies. |
|
Mixed Chemistry Handling |
Many real-world battery packs contain cells of varying chemistries (NMC, LFP, NCA, etc.) mixed together. Innovations here aim to develop sorting and processing techniques robust enough to handle heterogeneous battery inputs without sacrificing material purity. |
|
Logistics & Inclusion |
Building a safe, efficient, and digitally enabled collection infrastructure. Critically, the initiative explicitly includes the informal sector; a nod to the vast unorganised battery repair and scrap ecosystem prevalent in India; integrating it into a formalised, safety-compliant supply chain. |
|
Safety & Second Life |
Ensuring safe handling protocols for spent batteries, which carry risks of thermal runaway and toxic leakage. Second-life applications; repurposing batteries that are no longer fit for EVs but still hold usable capacity for stationary energy storage; are also within scope. |
3.2 The India-EU Joint Pilot Line
One of the most tangible outputs of this initiative is the establishment of a joint India-EU pilot line on Indian soil. This is significant for several reasons. It means that validated, at-scale recycling technology will be physically embedded in India's industrial ecosystem, facilitating technology transfer, local workforce skilling, and the development of an indigenous recycling supply chain. Pilot lines bridge the gap between laboratory-scale innovation and full commercial deployment; a critical stage where many green technology projects historically stall.
4. Strategic Significance
4.1 For India: Resource Security and Circular Economy
India currently imports virtually all of its lithium and cobalt requirements. The concentration of global lithium production in Australia, Chile, and Argentina; and cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo; exposes India to significant supply chain vulnerabilities as its EV sector scales. A robust domestic battery recycling ecosystem can meaningfully reduce this dependence over time, converting end-of-life batteries into a secondary ore source.
The Battery Waste Management Rules, 2022, already establish extended producer responsibility (EPR) obligations for battery manufacturers. This initiative provides the technological backbone to operationalise those rules at scale. It also aligns with India's broader National Critical Minerals Mission and the government's Net Zero commitments for 2070.
4.2 For the European Union: Cross-Continental Value Chain Resilience
The EU's strategic interest is threefold. First, it seeks to develop and export recycling technologies globally, positioning European firms as leaders in circular battery economy solutions. Second, it aims to build diversified and resilient supply chains for battery-grade materials, reducing dependence on Chinese processing of critical minerals. Third, it uses technological cooperation as a tool of geopolitical alignment, deepening ties with a large, rapidly growing economy that shares concerns about supply chain concentration.
4.3 Geopolitical Dimension: Technology as Diplomatic Currency
This initiative should be read in the context of broader India-EU strategic alignment. Both parties have been engaging more intensively since 2022 amid a reassessment of global supply chain dependencies following the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Clean energy technology cooperation; through platforms like the TTC, serves as a non-coercive, mutually beneficial mechanism to deepen bilateral relations. The inclusion of startups and SMEs in the call signals intent to build an innovation ecosystem, not merely a government-to-government research programme.
5. Key Voices and What They Signal
"This launch is a pivotal moment in the India-EU strategic partnership. As India's EV market continues its rapid expansion, creating a robust domestic recycling ecosystem is essential for our resource security and environmental commitments."
— Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India
Prof. Sood's framing of recycling as 'resource security' is deliberate; it elevates the initiative from a technical programme to a matter of strategic national interest, comparable to food or energy security. This framing is likely to resonate with policymakers and attract serious industrial participation.
"Batteries sit at the core of the green transition. The goal is to translate innovations from development to real-world deployment, directly investing in mineral security and shared climate goals."
— H.E. Mr. Hervé Delphin, Ambassador of the European Union to India
Ambassador Delphin's emphasis on translation from development to deployment addresses one of the most persistent failures in green innovation: the so-called 'valley of death' between promising research and commercial viability. The pilot line component directly responds to this challenge.
"This joint initiative marks a critical leap in India's circular economy and catalyses momentum for pioneering a digitalized, inclusive logistics model that integrates the informal sector while ensuring the highest safety standards."
— Dr. Parvinder Maini, Scientific Secretary, Office of the PSA
Dr. Maini's specific mention of the informal sector is analytically important. India's battery scrap trade has historically been managed by a large informal workforce, often with significant occupational health and environmental risks. Formalising this sector through digitised, safety-compliant logistics is both a development imperative and an environmental one.
"The EU and India are strengthening their bond in green innovation and co-creating a resilient, cross-continental value chain that will ensure the strategic materials of tomorrow remain within our economies."
— Mr. Marc Lemaître, Director-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission
Lemaître's phrase 'remain within our economies' is perhaps the most pointed articulation of the geopolitical logic underpinning this initiative. It signals an explicit effort to build a closed-loop system for critical materials within the India-EU economic space; a direct strategic counterweight to the existing dominance of Chinese entities in critical mineral processing and battery manufacturing.
6. Challenges, Gaps, and Considerations
6.1 Technology Readiness and Scale
Advanced recycling processes; particularly direct recycling and selective hydrometallurgy; remain at relatively low technology readiness levels (TRL 4-6) for many mixed-chemistry battery applications. Scaling these to industrial levels within reasonable timeframes and cost structures remains a significant technical challenge. The pilot line will be a critical test of whether laboratory results can survive contact with real-world feedstocks.
6.2 Collection Infrastructure Gaps in India
India currently lacks a well-developed formal EV battery collection infrastructure. The organised sector of EV sales is still growing, and end-of-life batteries from the first major wave of EV adoption are only beginning to appear in meaningful volumes. Building the logistics backbone; including geographic coverage, safety protocols for transportation, and digital tracking systems, will require significant parallel investment beyond what this call provides.
6.3 Informal Sector Integration Complexity
While the initiative's intent to integrate the informal sector is commendable, its execution is likely to be complex. Informal battery workers operate within an economic logic of low margins and immediate cash flows. Integrating them into a regulated, digitised system will require careful incentive design, potentially including aggregator models, direct cash transfers for collection, or cooperative structures. Simply building formal infrastructure without addressing the economic calculus of informal actors may not achieve inclusion goals.
6.4 Intellectual Property and Technology Transfer
Joint research initiatives involving European and Indian entities will inevitably encounter questions of intellectual property ownership, especially for innovations developed on the pilot line. Clear IP frameworks in the call's terms and conditions will be essential to ensure that both parties derive fair benefit and that Indian entities are not locked out of commercialising locally relevant innovations.
6.5 Regulatory Harmonisation
India and the EU have significantly different regulatory frameworks for hazardous waste, battery recycling standards, and environmental compliance. A joint pilot line operating in India will need to navigate Indian regulatory requirements while demonstrating adherence to European technical standards; particularly if the outputs (recycled materials) are intended to enter European supply chains. This regulatory interface will need careful management.
7. Policy Implications and Outlook
7.1 Short-Term (2026-2028)
7.2 Medium-Term (2028-2032)
7.3 Long-Term Strategic Vision
8. Conclusion
The India-EU Joint Initiative on EV Battery Recycling is more than a bilateral research grant. It represents the convergence of industrial strategy, resource geopolitics, environmental commitment, and technological ambition. At €15.2 million, the direct funding is modest relative to the scale of the challenge; but its significance lies in what it enables: a shared framework for technology development, a physical anchor in the form of a pilot line, and a strategic signal that India and the EU are committed to building resilient, sovereign supply chains for the clean energy transition.
For India, the initiative is an opportunity to leapfrog into advanced recycling technology while simultaneously addressing the environmental and social dimensions of battery waste. For the EU, it is a chance to embed European innovation in a high-growth market while securing access to processed critical minerals. The success of this call will depend not only on the quality of research proposals received, but on the long-term institutional commitment of both governments to translate research into industrial reality.
As the deadline of 15 September 2026 approaches, the quality and diversity of applicant consortia will be the first real test of this initiative's ambitions.
