The initiative, launched under the India-EU Trade and Technology Council (TTC) Working Group 2 on Green and Clean Energy Technologies, is jointly funded through the EU’s Horizon Europe programme and India’s Ministry of Heavy Industries, according to statements issued by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser and the Delegation of the European Union to India.
The coordinated call for proposals is open to companies, startups, small and medium enterprises, universities and research institutions from India and the EU, with submissions due by September 15, 2026.
The programme will support advanced recycling technologies, high-efficiency material recovery systems, digitalised collection and sorting infrastructure, and pilot-scale demonstrations of recycling processes.
It will also support the development of a joint EU-India pilot line in India for industrial-scale validation and deployment, according to the statements.
As electric vehicle adoption accelerates, India and the EU are increasingly focusing on the recovery of materials such as lithium, graphite and cobalt to reduce dependence on imported critical minerals.
“By 2030, India alone is estimated to have 128 GWh of recyclable battery capacity,” the EU statement said, adding that the collaboration aims to turn battery waste into a “virtual mine” by recovering high-purity materials for reuse in battery manufacturing.
The initiative will focus on lithium recovery, flexible recycling systems for mixed battery chemistries, digitalised collection systems, logistics models integrating the informal sector, and second-life battery diagnostics and safety monitoring technologies.
EU Ambassador to India Hervé Delphin said batteries were “far too strategic to be discarded after a single use”.
“Our goal is to take these innovations all the way from the development phase to real-world deployment — a move that represents a direct investment in our mineral security and our shared climate goals,” Delphin said in the statement.
Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India Ajay Kumar Sood said the initiative would help create a “robust domestic recycling ecosystem” as India’s EV market expands.
