CHENNAI: A facility dedicated to recovering critical minerals from used lithium-ion batteries and battery manufacturing scrap has been inaugurated at Gummidipoondi, marking what its developers describe as Tamil Nadu's first such plant.
The plant, set up by Bridge Green Upcycle, has a processing capacity of 7,200 metric tonnes per annum (MTPA) and is designed to extract materials including lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, copper and graphite from end-of-life batteries for reuse in the domestic battery supply chain.
The facility comes amid growing interest in battery recycling as India's electric vehicle and energy storage sectors expand. Industry estimates cited by the company project lithium-ion battery waste in the country to exceed 8 lakh tonnes annually by 2030.
The company said that the plant would create more than 100 direct and indirect jobs in its initial phase. It has also outlined plans to invest between Rs 500 crore and Rs 1,000 crore over the next five years to expand operations and increase recovery capacity.
The Gummidipoondi facility is intended to process both discarded batteries and manufacturing scrap generated by battery producers, a process often referred to as ‘urban mining’. The inauguration was attended by Saidapet MLA Arul Prakasam, Gummidipoondi MLA Vijayakumar, Centre of Excellence in Advanced Automotive Research CEO Srinivasan and representatives from the battery and clean energy sectors.