 "electric battery, EV battery")
China’s restrictions on rare earth exports have opened a window of opportunity for Indian battery material recyclers, with major players looking to scale up their extraction capacity for these critical materials.
Attero Recycling plans to increase its neodymium extraction from end-of-life magnets tenfold — from the current 1 tonne per month to 10 tonnes within a year. Similarly, Lohum Cleantech aims to expand its capacity to 3,000–5,000 tonnes per annum by 2026-27 (FY27), up from just 1 tonne at present, according to top executives at both firms. They expect to capture 75–80 per cent of the domestic market.
On April 4, Beijing imposed export restrictions on seven heavy and medium rare earth elements and magnets — namely, samarium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, lutetium, scandium, and yttrium. As a result, Chinese companies must now obtain defence export licences, complicating procurement for Indian importers.
India requires a range of rare earth elements — particularly neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium — primarily for permanent magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, electronics, and other applications. Currently, the country imports most of its rare earth magnets and about 90 per cent of its lithium, cobalt, and nickel needs.
“Rare earth magnets contain 80 per cent neodymium. At present, we extract 1 tonne of neodymium per month from these magnets, and we aim to scale that up tenfold by recycling more over the next 12 months,” said Nitin Gupta, chief executive officer (CEO) and cofounder of Attero, India’s largest electronic waste recycler and a leading lithium-ion battery recycling firm globally.
Asked whether the Chinese restrictions prompted the expansion, Gupta said, “We are scaling up in general, and this situation certainly provides additional motivation.”
Attero also extracts rare earth materials like germanium and selenium from solar panels and plans to expand that capacity to about 20,000 tonnes per annum within two years.
India’s current magnet requirement is 5,000–6,000 tonnes annually — a figure expected to rise due to demand from sectors such as wind energy, robotics, drones, and automotive. “From recycling, we can only meet 400–500 tonnes, or roughly 10 per cent of magnet demand,” said Rajat Verma, CEO of Lohum.
Lohum, which recovers battery raw materials through recycling, repurposing, and low-carbon refining, plans to set up a new plant with a capacity of 3,000–5,000 tonnes by FY27 to potentially meet half of India’s demand. “We won’t limit our sourcing to India. We plan to acquire global scrap to support domestic needs,” Verma added.
The company already collects scrap globally as part of its operations. “Since cost-effective magnet production is currently feasible only in China, we aim to be a viable alternative, not just for India, but globally. We want to source global magnet scrap and serve the worldwide supply chain,” he said.
Attero estimates that by collecting and recycling 90 per cent of end-of-life rare earth magnets, it can meet 80 per cent of domestic demand within two years. “If India’s GDP continues to grow at 10 per cent annually and we manage to recycle 90 per cent of available magnets — recovering 95 per cent of material — we could meet 75–80 per cent of India’s magnet demand. We already have the supply chain in place; now we need to build capacity. The government’s payload scheme needs implementation,” Gupta said.
Urban mining is drawing growing interest from metal companies seeking value in end-of-life products. However, Nishant Nischal, a partner at Kearney’s energy and process industries, cautioned that the ecosystem for recovering these materials remains nascent. “Given our current usage growth, there may not be enough end-of-life products to meet demand just yet. In five years, with shorter product life cycles of five to seven years, we might see more supply entering the stream. But for now, availability remains low,” he said.
Beyond building recycling capacity, Gupta stressed the need to overhaul India’s mining policy to permit the extraction of rare earth elements.
“To begin with, India must negotiate exemptions with China and simultaneously develop both its recycling and mining capabilities. We have ample rare earth reserves, but our rigid mining policies have long prioritised coal and iron ore, neglecting other critical minerals,” he said.
By contrast, China identified rare earths as a strategic priority two decades ago, investing in domestic mining and acquiring global assets to expand refining capabilities. India, on the other hand, has maximised licence fees and big corporate interests, Gupta said.
“To move forward, we must reform mining policies to attract private sector investment in rare earths. This is a long-term effort — initial progress may take a decade — but the time to act is now,” he said.
Climbing the scrap ladder
· Attero targets 80% of domestic magnet demand via recycling in 2 years
· Lohum eyes 50% market share by FY27 through global and local scrap sourcing
· India remains import-reliant for rare earth magnets and battery materials
· Mining policy overhaul needed to unlock India’s rare earth reserves
· Attero to scale neodymium recovery from 1 to 10 tonnes/month in a year
· Lohum plans 3,000–5,000 TPA capacity by FY27, up from 1 tonne now
