New Delhi, Sept. 4 -- The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Modi, has approved a Rs 1,500-crore incentive scheme to establish recycling capacity for extracting critical minerals from secondary sources.

The initiative forms part of the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM), which seeks to strengthen domestic capacity and supply chain resilience in this strategically important sector.

Given the long gestation period of exploration, mining, and foreign asset acquisition, the government has identified recycling as a near-term measure to ensure reliable mineral supplies.

The scheme will run for six years, from FY 2025-26 to FY 2030-31, targeting e-waste, lithium-ion battery scrap, and other sources such as catalytic converters fro...