LOHUM | Battery Recycling and Critical Mineral Refining LOHUM | Battery Recycling and Critical Mineral Refining

LOHUM | Battery Recycling and Critical Mineral Refining

Industrial Recycling

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 12 – Responsible Consumption and Production, SDG 13 – Climate Action, SDG 9 – Industry Innovation and Infrastructure

Company Overview

LOHUM is an Indian battery lifecycle management and critical minerals company headquartered in Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Founded in 2018 by Rajat Verma, the company began as a lithium-ion battery recycler and has since expanded into second-life battery repurposing, critical mineral refining, and cathode active material production.

The company’s operations center on recovering lithium, cobalt, nickel, copper, and other battery raw materials from end-of-life lithium-ion batteries sourced from consumer electronics, telecom equipment, and electric vehicles. It has also diversified into refining critical minerals from other waste streams, including non-ferrous and e-waste materials.

LOHUM is registered with India’s Ministry of Corporate Affairs as LOHUM Cleantech Private Limited (CIN U74999DL2018PTC331175) and holds a national R4 license, which permits import of lithium-ion battery scrap for recycling, a distinction few Indian recyclers have obtained. The company operates recycling and refining facilities across Uttar Pradesh and is developing additional capacity in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu.

Beyond India, LOHUM has entered joint ventures to establish battery recycling and critical mineral facilities in the United States and the United Arab Emirates, alongside international partnerships supporting its expansion into Europe. It has raised institutional funding across multiple rounds since 2018 and counts private equity investors, automotive component manufacturers, and industrial partners among its backers. The company positions its work within India’s National Critical Mineral Mission and the broader push toward domestic battery material self-sufficiency.

Why These SDGs Matter

LOHUM’s investment in domestic critical mineral refining and recycling infrastructure directly supports SDG 9 by building industrial capacity that reduces India’s reliance on imported battery raw materials and strengthens resilient, technology-driven manufacturing. Its core recycling and repurposing model advances SDG 12 by keeping lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper in circulation rather than routing end-of-life batteries to landfill or informal, unsafe processing, extending the useful life of finite resources through second-life applications and material recovery. By displacing primary mining with recovered materials and enabling second-life energy storage deployments that support renewable integration, LOHUM’s activities contribute to SDG 13’s climate action goals, reducing the extraction- and production-related emissions associated with sourcing virgin battery materials.

Products & Services
  • Lithium-ion battery recycling and material recovery
  • Second-life battery repurposing for energy storage
  • Cathode active material (CAM) manufacturing
  • Critical mineral refining, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper
  • Battery health and value diagnostics for used cells
  • Extended Producer Responsibility compliance and reporting support
  • Turnkey second-life battery energy storage system integration
  • Reverse logistics and traceable collection for end-of-life batteries
Business Challenges Solved
  • Import dependency for lithium-ion battery raw materials
  • Environmental and safety hazards from improperly discarded batteries
  • Extended Producer Responsibility compliance complexity for battery manufacturers
  • Limited domestic critical mineral refining capacity in India
  • Untapped material and economic value in end-of-life battery stock
  • Traceability gaps across the battery material lifecycle
  • Rising raw material costs tied to virgin mineral extraction
Approach & Methodology

LOHUM’s core technology is NEETM, a proprietary multi-stage hydrometallurgical process that uses liquid-based extraction to recover battery raw materials from shredded battery waste, known as black mass. The company has described recovery rates of over 95% for materials such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, aluminium, and copper, with output purity levels approaching 99.5%. The process is designed to work across battery chemistries, including lithium cobalt oxide, nickel manganese cobalt, and lithium iron phosphate cells, allowing a single facility to handle mixed incoming waste streams.

Ahead of recycling, LOHUM applies proprietary battery testing and diagnostics to assess the remaining useful life of collected batteries, routing healthy cells toward second-life repurposing in stationary energy storage applications and directing degraded cells toward material recovery. This testing combines physics-based and empirical data models to estimate state of health and remaining cycle life.

Collection is supported by a reverse logistics network that uses barcode-based tracking to maintain chain-of-custody documentation as batteries move from collection point to processing facility, supporting Extended Producer Responsibility reporting requirements for battery manufacturers and importers. LOHUM’s R4 licensing status also allows it to import battery scrap from overseas markets, feeding additional processing volume into its Indian refining operations. The company has paired this domestic infrastructure with international joint ventures to replicate its recycling and refining model in other markets.

Market Position

LOHUM operates primarily in India, with recycling and refining facilities in Uttar Pradesh and expansion underway in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. The company serves customers across India’s electric vehicle, consumer electronics, and telecom sectors. Internationally, it has established joint ventures to build battery recycling and critical mineral facilities in the United States and the United Arab Emirates, alongside partnerships supporting further expansion into Europe.

Procurement Considerations
  • Confirm current NEETM processing capacity against your required material volumes
  • Request documentation of R4 import licensing for any cross-border battery scrap arrangements
  • Verify Extended Producer Responsibility compliance support matches your battery chemistry and jurisdiction
  • Assess reverse logistics coverage for your specific collection regions
  • Review lead times and contract terms for CAM or refined material supply
  • Evaluate timelines and operational status of international joint venture facilities if sourcing outside India
  • Request material purity and recovery-rate documentation for the specific mineral streams required
Funding, Recognition & Ecosystem
  • Confirm current NEETM processing capacity against your required material volumes
  • Request documentation of R4 import licensing for any cross-border battery scrap arrangements
  • Verify Extended Producer Responsibility compliance support matches your battery chemistry and jurisdiction
  • Assess reverse logistics coverage for your specific collection regions
  • Review lead times and contract terms for CAM or refined material supply
  • Evaluate timelines and operational status of international joint venture facilities if sourcing outside India
  • Request material purity and recovery-rate documentation for the specific mineral streams required
Natnavi Analysis

LOHUM occupies a strategically important position in India’s clean energy supply chain at a moment when the country is actively working to reduce its dependence on imported battery raw materials. As electric vehicle adoption accelerates, the volume of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries entering India’s waste stream is set to grow substantially, and companies with the technical capability to recover critical minerals from that waste, rather than simply landfilling or exporting it, will play an outsized role in shaping domestic supply security.

The company’s vertical integration, spanning collection, diagnostics, second-life repurposing, recycling, and refining, distinguishes it from recyclers that operate at only one stage of the value chain. Its R4 import licensing and reported share of India’s domestic lithium refining further suggest a company with meaningful scale and regulatory standing in a still-emerging industry.

At the same time, reported figures for LOHUM’s total funding, valuation, and employee headcount vary considerably across third-party data providers, and no independently verified sustainability certifications were identified during this review. As with much of the battery recycling sector globally, the pace of technology deployment and geographic expansion claimed by the company would benefit from closer, ongoing verification as facilities move from announcement to operation.

Sources & References
Website
Founded: 2018
Company Stage: Growth-Stage Company
Headquarters
Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
Geographic Presence
LOHUM operates primarily in India, with recycling and refining facilities in Uttar Pradesh and expansion underway in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu. The company serves customers across India’s electric vehicle, consumer electronics, and telecom sectors. Internationally, it has established joint ventures to build battery recycling and critical mineral facilities in the United States and the United Arab Emirates, alongside partnerships supporting further expansion into Europe.
Solution Type
Manufacturer, Service Provider, Technology Provider
Sustainability Outcomes
Carbon Reduction, Circular Economy, Critical Minerals Recovery, Resource Efficiency, Sustainable Infrastructure, Waste Reduction
Industries Served
Automotive & Electric Mobility, Battery and Energy Storage, Energy & Utilities, Manufacturing, Mining & Metals
Last Reviewed: August 21, 2026

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