Aluminium scrap is the only major base-metal scrap India still charges an import duty on, after copper, zinc and lead went to nil. Two industry bodies now want that 2.5% changed in opposite directions, and the decision lands at the February 2027 Budget. If you import, trade or remelt aluminium scrap, this fight sets your landed cost for the next year.
In the week to 15 October 2026, brass scrap in Delhi and Jamnagar fell by ₹35 to ₹54 a kg and aluminium alloy ingot slipped about 2%, as downstream factories went quiet before Diwali on 8 November. The telling part is that it happened even where global metal moved the other way: LME copper rose about 1.2% over the fortnight while Indian brass scrap dropped, because the price you get in mid-October is set by local festive demand, not the exchange. Steel scrap, by contrast, barely moved. For dealers sitting on clean non-ferrous scrap, this is a holding decision, not a distress sale.
Since 10 October 2024, two rules decide how GST is handled on almost every metal scrap deal in India. If the seller is unregistered, the registered buyer pays the GST under reverse charge. If the seller is registered, the buyer deducts 2% TDS on larger deals. Here is how each works, with examples, and what has changed since.
This week, Eicher-maker VECV signed a deal to route old trucks into registered scrapping centres. Behind it are a government scheme to replace more than 2 lakh old trucks and buses, and an auto industry that missed its legal scrapping target by 70%. For the first time, subsidy money and compliance demand are pointing at the same scrapyard gate.
Prices for copper, aluminium, and zinc are climbing while nickel slides, creating clear opportunities for scrap dealers to sell the strong and buy the weak.
High Profit OpportunityBuyer DemandSeller OpportunityPrice Increase
The government's 'Viksit Bharat' plan isn't just high-level talk. It's a direct demand signal for decades of growth in the scrap industry, backed by hard targets and new policies.
