“Urban mining” starts in India: how battery-metal sourcing changes for Japanese companies

Turning spent EV batteries back into battery materials. A move to launch this kind of "urban mining" in India at full industrial scale has now taken concrete shape. India's N.A.N. GreenMet and Belgium's Silox announced on June 18, 2026, that they would form a 50:50 joint venture for lithium-ion battery recycling. For Japanese EV, battery, and materials makers with manufacturing and sourcing operations on the ground, the map of where to source battery metals is quietly, but surely, starting to be redrawn.

Inside the Joint Venture "N.A.N. Silox GreenMet"

The new company is named N.A.N. Silox GreenMet, funded equally by India's N.A.N. GreenMet and the Belgium-headquartered chemical company Silox. It will be located in Andhra Pradesh, where incentives from the state government and the securing of land have been confirmed. The project is planned to be developed in two phases, ultimately targeting up to 40,000 tons a year of shredding capacity for spent batteries and 20,000 tons a year of processing capacity through hydrometallurgy.

The materials to be recovered go beyond battery-grade metal salts such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese. The venture will also handle the precursor cathode active material precursor (pCAM) and even the cathode active material (CAM) itself. In other words, this isn't about stopping at extracting metals — the plan is to finish the process, all the way through, right up to materials that battery cell makers can use directly. The intended customers are EV cell makers, battery energy storage systems (BESS), and grid-scale storage.

On the technology side, Silox takes the lead role. Its Indian subsidiary, Silox Specialties India, says it has already validated, at pilot scale within India, its proprietary process for recovering battery-grade lithium, cobalt, and nickel. N.A.N. GreenMet, meanwhile, provides the execution capability for industrial implementation and access to capital. N.A.N. GreenMet is a technology-driven manufacturing platform founded by Vedanta vice chairman Navin Agarwal, targeting India's critical minerals and renewable-energy industrial base in areas such as rare-earth magnets, battery recycling, and precision blasting. This joint venture has been designated as a project eligible under the Indian government's critical-minerals recycling scheme, worth ₹1,500 crore in total.

Why Now — Regulation Has Made "Collection" Mandatory

Reading this joint venture as a standalone piece of news misses the point. What lies behind it is a regulatory design forcing India to shift battery resources from "disposable" to "circular."

The centerpiece is the Battery Waste Management Rules of 2022. Covering all batteries — automotive, portable, industrial, and EV — the rules impose Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) on producers and mandate collection and recycling. The target recovery rate for EV battery materials rises from 70% in 2024-25 to 90% (as a share of battery dry weight) by 2026-27. From 2027-28, producers will also be required to collect 70% of the batteries they have placed on the market. In addition, the minimum content of domestically recycled material is set to rise in stages, from 5% in 2027-28 to 20% by 2030-31.

The other pillar is the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM), launched in January 2025. India, which had until now been a "consumer" of battery metals, has repositioned itself as an "ecosystem builder" nurturing exploration, refining, and recycling all together. Lithium, cobalt, and nickel are finite and heavily import-dependent. Securing them through domestic collection to lower import risk is exactly the national-strategy context this joint venture fits into. Now that regulation mandates collection and even constrains the share of recycled material used, recycling processing capacity has shifted from being "nice to have" to something a business cannot run without.

Processing Capacity and the Shape of the Business

Here is a summary of the figures that have been announced. Note that the total investment amount is not included here, since no publicly disclosed figure that multiple sources agree on could be confirmed at the time of writing.

What deserves attention is that the venture pushes all the way to pCAM/CAM. CAM (cathode active material) is a core material that greatly determines the cost and performance of lithium-ion batteries, and pCAM is the precursor one step before it. Simply extracting metals from black mass (electrode powder) obtained through shredding is a relatively easy business to enter, but finishing the process, with guaranteed quality, all the way to cathode material that battery makers can actually use is a far higher technical bar. The design of the joint venture — not stopping at metal salts, but going all the way to the cathode-material range — reflects an intent to capture the high-value-added downstream.

Industry Reaction — Positioned as "Among the Largest in India"

Reactions from various quarters share a few common perspectives.

• Several trade media outlets have positioned this as "one of the largest critical-minerals recycling bases in India," reporting it as a platform-style initiative rather than a single recycling plant.
• Silox, the technology provider, is credited for bringing in its European expertise in critical-metal recovery and specialty chemicals and moving its India-piloted, validated process into the implementation stage.
• On the policy side, being selected as eligible under the ₹1,500 crore critical-minerals recycling scheme is itself seen as a sign of the government's stance in favor of quickly building up domestic collection capacity.

On the whole, this joint venture is being discussed not as an act of environmental good behavior, but as "industrial policy for resource security." The decarbonization context for batteries and the context of supply-chain resilience are tied together here.

Implications for Japanese Companies — The Sourcing Map Begins to Be Redrawn

From here on is the real substance for Japanese players operating locally. Let's break down the points one by one.

First, the significance of the location being "Andhra Pradesh" is not small. The state already has deep ties to Japanese critical-minerals operations. Toyotsu Rare Earths India (TREI), affiliated with Toyota Tsusho, has a track record of refining and processing rare earths in Visakhapatnam in the same state. Rare earths and battery metals are different things, but the trend of refining talent, infrastructure, and government contacts for critical minerals concentrating in the same state gives later-arriving Japanese materials players a data point for deciding which state to set up in. In a phase where clustering attracts more clustering, it's worth revisiting the priorities behind site selection.

Second, one more sourcing option is added. In Japan, Panasonic Energy and Sumitomo Metal Mining are collaborating on closed-loop nickel recovery, and have signaled a policy to extend the scope to lithium and cobalt from 2026 onward. While a domestic collection framework is being built in Japan, it makes more sense in some cases — on logistics and cost grounds — to collect and reprocess the used batteries generated by India's EV and two-wheeler market locally. For Japanese players handling cells, packs, and cathode materials in India, a local recycler like this one could become a candidate source for recycled materials. Given that the BWMR raises the minimum content of recycled material to 20% by 2030-31, building relationships early that secure local recycled material is, in itself, part of regulatory compliance.

Third, a recent event has forced a hard look at the danger of export dependence. In June 2025, the Indian government instructed IREL to halt a 13-year-old rare-earth export contract with Toyota Tsusho-affiliated TREI, in order to prioritize securing domestic demand. When it comes to critical minerals, India has actually moved in the direction of "locking resources in domestically" rather than "exporting to earn foreign currency." If the same dynamic plays out for battery metals, businesses premised on taking raw materials out of the country will carry risk. Conversely, this joint venture's model — completing everything from collection to cathode material inside India — structurally avoids that regulatory risk. If Japanese companies are going to be involved in resource circulation locally, a design built around "circulating within India" rather than "taking it out of India" will face less friction with the regulatory system.

Fourth, it could serve as a model for how to structure a partnership. The division of roles here is clear: the Belgian technology company (Silox) and the Indian execution-and-capital platform (N.A.N. GreenMet). Technology from outside, execution and government contacts from within the country — this setup lowers the barrier to entry compared with going in alone. When Japanese companies get involved in India's critical-minerals recycling, a realistic entry point is to team up with technology or capital, partnering with a local player that has regulatory expertise, land, and connections, rather than trying to handle everything on their own.

Ripple Effects on the Industry — EV Two-Wheelers and Energy Storage Push Up Collection Volumes

The premise behind India's battery-recycling industry taking off is the expectation that a large volume of batteries will, in fact, come up for collection. In India, EV two- and three-wheelers are the main driver of adoption, so the way the battery base emerges differs from developed countries centered on four-wheelers. As cheap, high-volume small EVs reach the end of their lives one after another, the volume of spent batteries will expand rapidly. In addition, as grid-scale and stationary battery energy storage (BESS) spreads, the collection of large industrial batteries will also pile up. The fact that this joint venture lists not just EV cells but also BESS and grid storage among its intended customers reflects a stance of pursuing both demand sources at once.

The ripple effects extend beyond the materials industry. Companies handling collection, sorting, and logistics; intermediate processors handling black mass; analysis and certification services that guarantee the quality of recycled material — a new supply-chain base is spreading around the edges. Japanese trading companies, materials makers, and equipment manufacturers have room to get involved not just in the final product, but in these intermediate processes and surrounding services.

Practical Information — Next Actions for Those Handling Market Entry

• Map the BWMR's (Battery Waste Management Rules) EPR obligations and the minimum recycled-content schedule onto your own India business plan and check it. The 5% recycled content in 2027-28 and 20% in 2030-31 act as key deadlines.
• Scrutinize, through your local subsidiary or advisors, the eligibility and requirements of the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM) and the critical-minerals recycling scheme. Whether you could qualify for subsidies or incentives changes the investment decision.
• Compare the land and incentive programs of states where critical-minerals activity is clustering, starting with Andhra Pradesh, and update the premises behind your site selection.
• Use JETRO's battery-supply-chain-related forums and the Japan-India critical-minerals cooperation framework to build early contacts with local recyclers and technology partners.

Conclusion

The joint venture between N.A.N. GreenMet and Silox symbolizes a turning point where India is shifting from a country that "imports and consumes battery resources" to one that "collects domestically and remanufactures all the way to cathode material." With regulation mandating collection and the use of recycled material, and a national mission pushing domestic circulation, this trend is not a one-off. For Japanese players involved locally with batteries and materials, the question has shifted from "whether to get involved in recycling" to "when, with whom, and in which state to get involved." At this moment when the sourcing map is being redrawn, working backward from the regulatory schedule and getting ahead on partner searches will determine competitiveness down the road.

Frequently asked questions

Where will N.A.N. Silox GreenMet build its plant?

In Andhra Pradesh, in southern India. Incentives from the state government and the securing of land have been confirmed. The project will be developed in two phases, ultimately targeting up to 40,000 tons a year of shredding capacity and 20,000 tons a year of hydrometallurgical processing.

What are CAM and pCAM, and why do they matter?

CAM (cathode active material) is a core material in lithium-ion batteries that greatly affects cost and performance. pCAM (cathode active material precursor) is the precursor one step before it. Finishing recovered metal all the way to the cathode-material range, rather than stopping at metal salts, produces a high-value-added product that battery makers can use directly. The technical bar is high, but doing so captures downstream value.

How should Japanese companies engage with this trend?

There are three angles. Because India's Battery Waste Management Rules mandate a minimum share of recycled material, local recyclers become candidate sources for recycled material. On location, the clustering in Andhra Pradesh, home to a Toyota Tsusho-affiliated critical-minerals site, is a useful data point. On structuring a deal, teaming up with a local partner through technology or capital lowers the barrier to entry. And given the precedent of an export contract being halted on government order, designing operations to complete the circulation loop within India lowers regulatory risk.

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Source:

• Autocar Professional – NAN GreenMet and Silox Form Battery Recycling Joint Venture in India
• Business Standard – N.A.N. GreenMet, Silox form joint venture for battery recycling platform
• pv magazine India – N.A.N. GreenMet and Belgium’s Silox form JV
• IEA – Battery Waste Management Rules 2022
• Panasonic Newsroom – Panasonic Energy and Sumitomo Metal Mining to Collaborate in Recycling of Nickel