Recyclekaro plans Rs 240 crore fundraise, weighs IPO amid expansion push

E-waste recycler Recyclekaro India Limited is looking to raise Rs 240 crore in fresh equity over the next six months and is evaluating a potential initial public offering as it accelerates expansion in e-waste and lithium-ion battery recycling to tap fast-growing demand in India for critical minerals.

The planned fundraise follows a recent Rs 93 crore capital infusion and will be used to build new facilities, add advanced extraction capabilities and scale capacity across business verticals, the company told ET.

The company said it is positioning itself to move up the value chain—from basic recycling to high-purity material recovery—amid rising demand from electric vehicle and energy storage manufacturers.


“We are in expansion mode right now,” said Prassann Daphal, CEO, Recyclekaro India Limited. “Lithium-ion battery recycling capacity last year was 4,200 metric tonnes, which we have renewed to 10,000 metric tonnes per year. And shortly, we will add 16,000 metric tonnes for extracting critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese—key inputs for batteries and clean energy technologies."

The company has expanded its e-waste recycling capacity more than threefold—from 7,500 metric tonnes per annum to 24,500 metric tonnes.

Beyond e-waste and batteries, the group has entered catalytic converter recycling through a joint venture, Evergreen Mahan Recycling Private Limited, which focuses on recovering precious metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium from automotive scrap. The facility has an annual capacity of 600 tonnes.

The strategy marks a shift towards higher-value material recovery.

“Our goal is not just recycling, but extracting materials and adding value before selling them,” Daphal added.

Recyclekaro operates at the advanced end of battery recycling, recovering metals from ‘black mass’ using hydrometallurgical processes, with claimed recovery efficiencies of more than 95% for key metals such as cobalt.

Most recovered materials are currently sold to domestic chemical and industrial users, though the company is working towards producing battery-grade outputs for direct supply to cell manufacturers.

India’s e-waste generation is estimated at about 6.19 million metric tonnes in 2024 and is projected to reach 14 million metric tonnes by 2030. The annual economic value of the e-waste market is about Rs 51,000 crore. While 60% of the material in e-waste is considered extractable, formal recovery systems capture only 18% of this potential.

The informal sector still processes about 78% of India’s e-waste. Formal recycling delivers up to 95-97% material recovery, compared with 10-20% in informal processes, resulting in significant resource loss.

Recyclekaro is also preparing for emerging technologies such as sodium-ion batteries and rare earth magnet recovery as India seeks to reduce dependence on imports.

The company reported revenue of about Rs 219.5 crore last year, with EBITDA margins of 17-18% and net profit margins of 8-9%. It expects revenue to nearly double to about Rs 450 crore this year, driven by capacity expansion and higher value-added products.