November 7, 2025: The CEO of Indian lead recycler Gravita is forecasting a battery recycling bonanza that will boost earnings over the next few years, as tough new national waste management rules take hold.
CEO Yogesh Malhotra said the company’s planned expansion of lead processing capacity has continued at pace — with overall recycling capability set to approach 400,000 tonnes per annum in fiscal 2027, up from the 291,000 tpa reported in March last year.
Malhotra told an earnings call on October 31 only around 35% of total lead battery scrap reaches the organized (formal) recycling sector at present.
However, following the introduction of measures in 2022 aimed at forcing unregulated recycling out of the market, Malhotra said around 90% of the scrap is expected to shift to the formal sector in the next two to three years.
“There is going to be a huge opportunity for capacity expansion throughout the organized sector in India. I don’t think that raw material is going to be an issue.”
Scrap lead batteries from India and overseas will contribute to the expansion, he said.
The first phase of expansion at the firm’s Mundra plant — increasing lead recycling capacity by 30,000 tpa — should be commissioned by the end of November, Malhotra said.
The second phase of Mundra’s expansion, adding another 50,000 tpa, is set for completion by January 2026.
In a related move, the firm’s Phagi lead recycling plant will see a 45,000 tpa capacity expansion completed by December 2026. Phagi, which started operations in 1994, supplies markets in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
Malhotra also revealed the company is looking at the potential to acquire lead recycling businesses in eastern Europe.
He said Gravita had recently acquired a tyre recycling company in Romania — now operating as Gravita Europe — to boost its rubber recycling operations and was exploring other expansion options for lead, rubber and aluminium.
Batteries International reported last December battery makers in India feared that while new national battery recycling guidelines could boost sustainability, the move risked ramping up costs.
The Indian Battery Manufacturers Association said then that environmental compensation guidelines unveiled by the Central Pollution Control Board proposed a minimum pricing for extended producer responsibility credits at 30% of the environmental compensation.
