LICO Materials has been selected under the Ministry of Mines Incentive Scheme for Promotion of Critical Mineral Recycling. It has committed an investment of Rs 2.40 billion for its Karnataka facility focused on producing battery grade critical minerals from end of life lithium ion batteries, and the project is eligible for a 20 per cent capital expenditure (CapEx) subsidy along with a multi year operational expenditure (OpEx) subsidy linked to incremental sales through FY 2030-31.
The project focuses on recovering lithium, nickel and cobalt from end-of-life batteries at 99 per cent battery grade purity for reuse in battery manufacturing. It will build on the company’s existing 25,000 TPA mechanical processing capacity and add 10,000 TPA of hydrometallurgical extraction capacity across two plants in Karnataka, with one unit dedicated to battery shredding and classification and the other to critical mineral extraction.
Recently, NavPrakriti Green Energies Private Limited announced that it will invest over Rs 1 billion to set up a greenfield critical minerals refining facility in Odisha. This facility is expected to become operational by the financial year 2028-29. The facility will process up to 5,000 metric tonnes per annum (TPA) of end-of-life batteries. The facility has been designed for high-purity recovery of lithium, cobalt, nickel, and other rare earth minerals from spent batteries.
