Fifty-eight companies cleared under the ₹1,500 crore critical mineral recycling scheme have pledged about 8.5 lakh tonnes a year of capacity, roughly three times what the government expected. India's registered e-waste recyclers already have more capacity than the country officially generates in e-waste. With a critical minerals stockpile policy due in about a month and lithium prices down by half since May 2026, the real contest now is over collection, and that puts aggregators and collectors in a stronger position.
The Ministry of Steel's draft National Steel Policy: Vision 2047 projects ferrous scrap use rising from 36 million tonnes in 2025-26 to 123 million tonnes by 2047-48. Domestic collection has to do almost all the work: it must grow from 28 million tonnes to 111 million tonnes, and the draft proposes a nationwide collection drive modelled on Swachh Bharat to get there. Scrap's share of steelmaking, though, is planned to stay at about 21%. Anyone can send suggestions to the ministry until 30 October 2026.
Punjab expects 18.81 million tonnes of paddy straw this harvest. Over the past eight weeks the Centre has put a ₹23,731 crore guaranteed-price scheme behind biogas, coal plants are being fined for burning too little biomass, and brick kilns face a 30% straw-fuel rule from 1 November. Straw has stopped being a waste problem. It is becoming a traded commodity, and the money will go to whoever can collect, store and deliver it.
The next global supply chain for critical minerals may not start in a mine. It may start in India’s scrapyards, creating a quantifiable link between a dealer's yard and a multi-billion dollar strategy.
High Profit OpportunityGovernment IncentiveInvestment OpportunityDemand Surge
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.
