November 8, 2023: Gravita India could start work on a planned pilot lithium battery recycling plant by the end of the year, the company’s CEO said on November 1.
Yogesh Malhotra told a second-quarter conference call the company had applied for relevant regulatory approvals to build the plant at its Mundra lead recycling plant in Gujarat.
Malhotra said he was hopeful Gravita would get the go-ahead as soon as the end of this year and could immediately start the construction process.
Malhotra revealed in January that Gravita was already in talks with potential tech partners to build the pilot facility.
He said India needed “consolidated, complete technology” for sustainable lithium recycling and discussions were underway with potential partners from Europe, Japan and Israel.
Malhotra did not give an update on the technical talks on November 1.
However, he said the foray into lithium recycling would be complementary to Gravita’s existing lead recycling operations.
Lithium would start to eat into the company’s lead battery recycling operations over time, but Malhotra said lead was expected to remain the company’s dominant recycling activity for years to come.
Gravita announced in April lead recycling capacity at Mundra had been increased by 40,500 tonnes per annum.
The company said in a regulatory announcement that the expansion took overall recycling capacity at the flagship facility to 60,000 tpa.