India's Attero to set up lithium-ion battery recycling plant

By Tanvi Mehta

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India's largest electronics recycling firm Attero Recycling said on Thursday it will invest 6 billion rupees ($72.4 million) to set up its second lithium-ion battery recycling plant in the country.

The plant will increase Attero's battery recycling capacity to 19,500 tonnes by the end of 2023 from 4,500 tonnes currently, the World Bank-backed company said in a statement. It will be built in the southern state of Telangana.

Attero, whose clients include Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor, intends to recycle 300,000 tonnes of lithium-ion batteries within the next five years.

It expects 35% of its global capacity to be built in Europe, 35% in the United States, 20% in India and 10% in Indonesia.

"The input capacity of the plant will be 15,000 tonnes per annum, and we're expecting a slightly higher output from it," Attero Chief Executive Nitin Gupta said in an interview.

The plant will function at full capacity by December next year, he added.

The company said in June it would spend $1 billion in the next five years and add plants in Poland, Ohio and Indonesia as part of its global expansion.

($1 = 82.8825 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Tanvi Mehta; Editing by Jan Harvey)