New Delhi: The government will hold separate meetings to resolve the key demands of the recycling industry, Union Coal and Mines Minister G Kishan Reddy said on Monday. He was speaking at the National Seminar on "India's Critical Minerals Recycling Ecosystem and Circular Economy", organised by the Mines Ministry and the Material Recycling Association of India (MRAI).
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The industry's demands involve several ministries, and Reddy said he had already spoken to them. "Through a whole-of-government approach, we heard issues involving multiple ministries," he said. "I have held discussions with them. The Commerce Ministry, Finance Ministry, Environment Ministry, Ministry of Electronics, and our own ministry are involved. We will hold separate meetings for different issues to work toward resolving them."
The industry has been pressing for quick reforms. MRAI has asked for the pre-shipment inspection certificate (PSIC) framework to be abolished immediately. According to the association, the framework has disrupted operations and virtually brought the industry to a halt. MRAI has also asked for the import duty on aluminium scrap to be removed and for changes to the Extended Producers' Responsibility (EPR) regime.
In a statement, MRAI said these reforms would strengthen India's recycling industry, build domestic capabilities and create a predictable policy environment. It said they would also make recyclable raw materials easier to get, which would cut dependence on primary mining and on imports of critical minerals.
In his address, Reddy stressed how important critical minerals recycling is for India's clean energy transition, defence preparedness, digital economy and advanced manufacturing. He said India could become a significant secondary source of critical minerals by recovering valuable materials from waste. This, he said, would reduce the country's dependence on conventional mining and the environmental burden that comes with it.
Reddy said the government is preparing an incentive scheme for critical mineral recycling. He added that about Rs 34,000 crore has been allocated for critical mineral development. Centres of Excellence at IITs (Indian Institutes of Technology) and other technology institutions have also been proposed, to advance research and technologies for recovery and processing.
The minister said critical mineral recycling must advance in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision, with a focus on innovative technologies, entrepreneurship, e-waste management and environmental sustainability. He called for a whole-of-government and society-wide approach. In his view, employment generation, reverse logistics and domestic processing should form the backbone of the recycling ecosystem.
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According to an official statement, Reddy also called for closer collaboration between government, industry, research institutions and start-ups. The aim is to promote the recovery of critical minerals from end-of-life (EOL) products and to build up domestic recycling capability.
