A Rs 200 crore Meerut refinery targets India's secondary critical-minerals supply: a useful project, not yet capacity

Meerut-based Circulogy Cleantech Private Limited has signed a memorandum of understanding with Invest UP, the Uttar Pradesh investment promotion agency, for a lithium-ion battery and rare-earth refinery in Meerut. Reports dated 20 October put the proposed investment at about Rs 200 crore. Circulogy is a DPIIT-recognised deep-tech start-up supported by the UP Startup Mission.

What is proposed

• Phased development, with up to 10,000 tonnes of material processed a year at full capacity. Reports say 'material' and do not say whether this is input feedstock or recovered output.
• About 300 direct and 1,000 indirect jobs.
• Used lithium-ion batteries as one feedstock, yielding lithium, cobalt and nickel.
• Old permanent magnets from electronics, hard drives and EV motors as the other, yielding neodymium, dysprosium and terbium. One report also mentions recycled rare-earth oxides.
• Under the MoU, the state government will help obtain clearances and approvals and help the project access applicable central and state incentive schemes.

Two waste streams, one midstream problem

Battery black mass and magnet scrap are different feedstocks. They need different collection systems, pre-processing, separation chemistry and quality control. A plant that claims both must show reliable feedstock aggregation, safe handling, recovery yields, impurity control and buyers for the recovered products. Public reporting does not yet show any of these.

Why secondary supply matters

India's critical-minerals effort has largely focused on mines, overseas assets and processing parks. Material already inside the economy, in end-of-life batteries, electronics and motors, is a second source that does not depend on a new mine or imported concentrate. Recycling does not remove the need for primary supply. It becomes useful only when volumes, yields and product specifications are strong enough for domestic battery, magnet and electronics manufacturers to use the output.

What has not been disclosed

• The site or plot within Meerut, land allotment and environmental approvals.
• Timeline, commissioning date or phase-wise targets.
• Process technology, technology partner, recovery yields and product specifications.
• Cost breakdown, funding structure and whether the MoU carries binding financial terms.
• Feedstock contracts and customers for the recovered products.
• The MoU signing date. Reports are dated 20 October, and one relies on comments from the UP Startup Mission rather than Circulogy itself.

How it differs from earlier coverage

S-120 covered the Ministry of Mines recycling concept paper, a policy instrument. S-153 covered Nexon Geochem's proposed rare-earth magnet manufacturing facility in Andhra Pradesh, which is downstream magnet making. S-157 covered the proposed national critical-minerals stockpiling policy. This signal is a named private recycling and refining project, which is a separate item.

What to watch

Watch for land and environmental approvals, financing, a process-technology partner, feedstock agreements with battery and e-waste aggregators, first construction, and evidence that recovered products meet industrial specifications. Until then the 10,000-tonne figure is a target, not capacity.