The EU and India have launched a new joint funding call worth €15.2 million (about ₹169 crore) to develop technology for recycling electric vehicle batteries.
The third coordinated call is being run under the EU-India Trade and Technology Council’s Working Group 2 on Green and Clean Energy Technologies, the European External Action Service announced on Wednesday.
It is jointly funded by the EU’s Horizon Europe research programme and India’s Ministry of Heavy Industries.
The call, labelled HORIZON-CL5-2026-09-D2-04, will support work on higher-efficiency recovery of materials from used batteries, safer collection systems and pilot-scale testing of new processes.
It also includes setting up a joint EU-India pilot line in India to validate recycling approaches in real-world conditions.
Proposals must be submitted by consortia that include partners from both the EU and India, with a deadline of 15 September 2026.
The projects are expected to reach Technology Readiness Levels 7–8 — a scale that indicates technologies close to real-world demonstration and deployment.
“Virtual mine” and material recovery
The cooperation is focused on recovering materials used in batteries such as lithium, graphite and cobalt, according to the statement.
India is estimated to have 128 GWh of recyclable battery capacity by 2030.
The statement said the funded work will cover recycling methods that can handle different battery chemistries, digital collection and sorting systems, and diagnostics to assess batteries for potential “second-life” uses before recycling.
It also refers to integrating India’s informal sector into collection and sorting systems to support safer logistics.
The initiative aligns with the EU Batteries Regulation and India’s Battery Waste Management Rules 2022.
