India's next battery challenge: Who Controls the Scrap?

India's battery ecosystem is entering a phase of unprecedented growth. Electric vehicles, telecom infrastructure, renewable energy storage systems and conventional automotive applications are all driving demand for batteries across the country. Yet an equally important question remains largely overlooked: where will the industry source its raw materials from once batteries reach the end of their life? 

The answer increasingly lies in scrap.  

Used batteries were once viewed primarily as waste. Today, they are emerging as a valuable secondary resource that can support domestic supply chains, reduce import dependence and strengthen India's circular economy ambitions.  As India's battery consumption grows, access to end-of-life batteries could become a more important competitive advantage than recycling capacity itself. 

The Hidden Supply Chain Behind India’s Battery Economy
Unlike traditional manufacturing sectors where raw material sourcing is relatively straightforward, battery recycling depends on a complex collection ecosystem. Used batteries are dispersed across millions of households, workshops, dealers, fleet operators and industrial users. Recovering them efficiently requires strong sourcing networks, collection systems and logistics capabilities. Historically, much of this collection activity was handled by informal channels. 

Today, the recycling process includes collection, battery breaking, smelting, acid treatment, plastic recycling, refining and alloying, producing lead ingots with purity above 99.97%. India’s recycled lead industry is supported by lead’s high recyclability, with nearly 85–90% of domestic lead production derived from recycling and over 80% of lead consumption used in battery manufacturing. The sector has around 672 registered recycling units across four regional clusters, with installed capacity of approximately 3.53 million tonnes per annum. India’s lead-acid battery market was valued at ₹42,150 crore in FY2025 and is projected to reach ₹59,671 crore by FY2030, growing at a 7.2% CAGR, driven by automotive, telecom, renewable energy, inverter, UPS and data centre demand. 

Yet, India’s recycled lead industry continues to face a supply-side gap, with the unorganised sector accounting for an estimated 24.4% of recycled lead ingot supply and imports contributing another 14.4%. In FY2024, India imported around 1,53,500 tonnes of lead scrap worth ₹2,486 crore, mainly from the USA, UK and Australia, with import value growing at an 11.6% CAGR since FY2019. 

This dependence reflects the gap between installed recycling capacity and reliable domestic scrap collection. However, stricter environmental regulations, traceability requirements and EPR norms are gradually shifting volumes toward organised recyclers. As battery consumption rises, competitive advantage is likely to depend less on plant size alone and more on the ability to build compliant scrap sourcing, collection and processing networks.

This is also why organised recyclers are increasingly investing in collection networks, sourcing partnerships and recovery technologies. For many players, securing feedstock has become as important as expanding capacity. IPO bound Ardee Industries, for instance, highlights a sourcing network that spans more than 50 countries, underscoring how access to recyclable material is becoming a strategic differentiator. Ardee Industries primarily serves the battery and metal industries, which contributed 87.23% of revenue in FY2025, 88.64% in FY2024 and 90.97% in FY2023. The company manufactures pure lead and lead alloys using recyclable scrap such as battery scrap, remelted lead ingots, lead blocks, lead scrap and lead master metal.

More importantly, recycling is increasingly being viewed through the lens of resource security. At a time when supply chains are becoming more vulnerable to geopolitical disruptions and commodity price volatility, recovering metals already available within the domestic economy offers both economic and strategic advantages. What was once considered waste is gradually being recognised as a valuable industrial resource. 

For India, the next chapter of the battery story may not be written in factories alone. It may be determined by the efficiency with which the country collects, recovers and reuses the materials already in circulation. 

This article has been contributed by Ardee Industries Limited. Views expressed are the author's personal.