Centre to Consider Industry Demands for Mineral Recycling, Prepares Incentive Scheme

Union Minister of Coal and Mines G Kishan Reddy announced that the central government is formulating an incentive scheme for critical mineral recycling and has allocated approximately Rs 34,000 crore toward critical mineral development. Speaking at a national seminar on India's critical mineral recycling ecosystem organized by the Material Recycling Association of India (MRAI), the minister assured industry stakeholders that the government would consider their policy representations on a fast-track basis.

Reddy noted that India has the potential to develop a significant secondary supply of critical minerals by extracting materials from industrial waste and end-of-life products, reducing the environmental footprint and operational reliance associated with conventional primary mining. The government has also proposed establishing Centres of Excellence across major institutions to support research into mineral recovery and processing technologies.

MRAI Seeks End to Pre-Shipment Inspection Certificate Regime

The assurance comes amid calls from MRAI for structural policy revisions, led by a demand to abolish the mandatory Pre-shipment Inspection Certificate (PSIC) regime. The association argued that the existing framework of relying on overseas agencies has created procedural bottlenecks.

Sanjay Mehta, President, MRAI, said, "The industry is not asking for less inspection. We are asking for a stronger, smarter and more secure inspection system that is capable of handling the scale of India’s scrap imports. When India already has the infrastructure to scan and verify consignments at its ports, there is a strong case for undertaking verification within the country rather than depending entirely on an overseas system that is difficult to scale and monitor."

Industry Demands Customs Duty and GST Relief on Metal Scrap

MRAI also sought the removal of the 2.5% Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on aluminium scrap and cupro-nickel alloy scrap, the rationalization of Goods and Services Tax on metal scrap, zero-duty provisions for recyclable raw materials under upcoming Free Trade Agreements, and formal Industry Status for the recycling sector to improve credit access.