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Hindustan Times
03-06-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
From battery waste to energy independence: India's critical minerals opportunity
India's fast-growing electric vehicle (EV) and energy storage sectors offer a tremendous opportunity: transforming battery waste into a strategic resource to reduce dependence on imported critical minerals. Despite having a vast domestic market, India still heavily relies on imports—especially from China—for key battery materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel. As demand for these metals surges toward 2030, India stands at a crucial crossroads to build a robust recycling ecosystem aligned with the National Critical Minerals Mission (NCMM), positioning itself for long-term energy security and sovereignty. Critical minerals are essential to modern technologies—from EVs and smartphones to renewable energy and defence systems. But with global supply chains heavily dominated by China, India faces significant geopolitical risks. China's control over mineral processing and its tightening export regulations have exposed vulnerabilities in India's energy transition roadmap. In response, India has adopted a comprehensive strategy covering 30 critical minerals: boosting domestic exploration, acquiring overseas resources, and ramping up recycling infrastructure. Backed by a ₹34,300 crore investment, the NCMM seeks to strengthen local supply chains, foster research and development (R&D), and establish strategic reserves both domestically and internationally. Although India has large mineral reserves, only a fraction has been explored. This untapped potential offers a compelling opportunity for global partnerships and investments. India possesses reserves of critical minerals such as copper and potentially cobalt, and unlocking these in an efficient, sustainable manner could bolster the global supply chain. To ensure recycled materials play a pivotal role, India has introduced policies like Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and the Battery Waste Management Rules (BWMR) 2022. These mandates require producers to meet escalating annual recycling targets for lithium-ion batteries, thereby reintegrating recovered metals into the production cycle. India is witnessing a gradual shift from informal to formal battery recycling. According to BDO India, domestic recyclers could supply up to 48% of the country's lithium-ion battery demand by 2030. This transition is powered by growing private investments and policy incentives, including tax exemptions on critical mineral imports and urban mining initiatives announced in the 2025 Union Budget. End-of-life batteries are a rich source of lithium, cobalt, and nickel—metals that are becoming increasingly scarce. Tapping into this resource pool is essential to narrowing the supply-demand gap and achieving energy transition targets. As global demand for critical minerals is expected to hit $80 billion by 2040 (IEA), countries worldwide—including Japan, Canada, Australia, and EU members—are actively building resilient supply chains. India's global alliances, such as the India-US Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET) and its partnership with Australia on critical minerals research (IACMRP), underscore the importance of international collaboration. Interestingly, several minerals—like lithium, cobalt, nickel, and vanadium—are listed as critical by multiple major economies, reinforcing the need for collective recycling strategies and global coordination. Despite promising initiatives, India faces several execution hurdles: India's strategy includes short-, mid-, and long-term goals: Recycling battery waste could save India billions in imports, create substantial employment in urban mining, and cement its status as the recycling hub of the Global South. Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) such as KABIL, ONGC Videsh, and Coal India are playing a critical role in acquiring overseas assets, while the NCMM's funding drives domestic integration. However, India's funding still lags global benchmarks. The European Union (EU) has proposed a €10 billion fund, and the US has allocated $400 billion through the Inflation Reduction Act. Scaling India's commitment over time will be essential to strengthening recycling infrastructure, driving R&D in hydrometallurgy, and integrating informal workers through IoT-linked systems. To unlock the full potential of battery recycling, India must overcome regulatory, technological, and financial hurdles while accelerating domestic capability building. A phased strategy—driven by AI, supported by global alliances, and backed by policy—can convert India's battery waste burden into an economic and strategic asset. With the right blend of vision, partnerships, and innovation, India can turn its critical minerals challenge into a sustainable competitive advantage—ensuring energy sovereignty and a resilient green-tech future. This article is authored by Chetan Jain, senior vice president – business operations, LOHUM.
Mint
06-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Brokerages stay bullish on this smallcap multibagger stock after Q4 beat, see 37% upside. Time to buy?
Multibagger smallcap stock in focus: Domestic brokerage firms have retained their optimistic view on Gravita India, one of the country's largest lead producers, following its March quarter performance, which exceeded their estimates. The strong results reinforced their belief that the company remains on track to achieve its 'Vision 2029' targets, supported by capacity expansion initiatives across both domestic and international markets. They also believe future growth will be driven by the company's planned entry into new geographies within India, continued focus on increasing the share of value-added products, and rising contributions from non-lead business segments. Following the company's strong Q4FY25 performance, domestic brokerage firm Axis Securities maintained its 'Buy' call on the stock but trimmed its target price to ₹ 2,600 apiece from the earlier target of ₹ 3,000, citing heightened geopolitical risks and macro uncertainties. However, the revised target still indicates a 37% upside from the stock's latest closing price. Similarly, Motilal Oswal retained its 'Buy' rating on the stock with a target price of ₹ 2,300 apiece, while Kotak Institutional Equities maintained its 'Add' rating, trimming the target price to ₹ 2,175 from ₹ 2,400, citing lower lead volumes. As a leading player in India's rapidly expanding recycling industry, Motilal Oswal said Gravita is well-positioned to deliver strong earnings growth over the medium term, supported by strategic capacity expansions across verticals and geographies, increased focus on value-added products, higher growth in new segments (like rubber), and improved domestic scrap availability driven by favorable regulatory tailwinds. Kotak noted that the company has multiple levers for volume expansion, including the implementation of an aluminum hedging contract on MCX, use of QIP proceeds for potential M&A, expansion of lead recycling capacity at Mundra by 40% to 0.1 mtpa, setting up domestic rubber and pilot Li-ion battery recycling projects, and scaling up operations in international markets such as Eastern Europe and the Americas. Axis Securities highlighted that the recent fundraise through QIP will enable Gravita to pursue both organic and inorganic growth opportunities in the evolving recycling sector. Expansion in both existing and new recycling verticals is expected to drive revenue growth, while profit growth is likely to outpace revenue growth, supported by an improving product mix and stronger operating leverage. The company reported a strong 13% YoY increase in overall volumes, driven by a 62% YoY surge in aluminum and a 12% YoY rise in lead. Value-added products contributed 46% of revenues during the quarter. Additionally, stricter BWMR and EPR regulations led to a 60% increase in domestically sourced scrap, which rose to 43%. Q4FY25 revenue came in at ₹ 1,037 crore, up 20% YoY and 4% QoQ, broadly in line with analysts' estimates of ₹ 1,042 crore. Adjusted EBITDA also met expectations at ₹ 108 crore, marking a growth of 17% YoY and 6% QoQ. EBITDA margin stood at 10.5%, slightly above the estimated 10.2%, improving by 20 basis points QoQ but declining by 29 basis points YoY. Consolidated profit after tax stood at ₹ 95 crore, registering a robust growth of 37% YoY and 21% QoQ, surpassing expectations by 4%. The shares, valued at ₹ 506 each just two years ago, have witnessed an astonishing surge of 276%, now trading at ₹ 1,906. Furthermore, from their low of ₹ 32 in May 2020, the shares have experienced an extraordinary rise of 5,856% to date. Established in 1992 in Jaipur, Gravita India specializes in the recycling of lead, aluminum, plastics, and rubber, serving both domestic and international markets. With a widespread global presence, the company boasts a strong clientele of over 375 customers across Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas, spanning 38 countries. Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions. First Published: 6 May 2025, 01:27 PM IST
