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Metal Recycling Emerges as a High-Growth Investment Theme as IPO Activity Gains Momentum

India’s metal recycling industry is attracting growing investor interest, driven by expanding market opportunities, increasing participation from listed companies and a robust IPO pipeline linked to sustainability, battery recycling and circular economy growth.

June 05, 2026. By News Bureau

India’s metal recycling sector is moving into the capital markets spotlight, with INR 28,800 crore recycled lead ingot market, expanding listed peers and a fresh IPO pipeline giving investors a cleaner way to play the circular economy theme.

The latest trigger is CMR Green Technologies’ IPO. On Day 2, the IPO was subscribed 9.59 times, with strong demand across investor categories. The NII portion was subscribed 21.80 times, followed by the retail portion at 7.91 times, employee portion at 6.79 times, and QIB portion at 3.45 times.

The IPO is a INR 630.88 crore book-built issue entirely comprising an offer for sale of 3.29 crore shares. The issue opened on June 3, 2026, and closes on June 5, with a price band of INR 182–192 per share and tentative listing on NSE and BSE on June 10, 2026. At the upper price band, the retail lot of 78 shares requires INR 14,976. CMR enters the street with an installed domestic metal recycling capacity of 6,05,850 MTPA as of March 31, 2025, around four times the nearest competitor in domestic recycled aluminium.

Lead is among the most extensively recycled metals, capable of being re-melted numerous times while retaining its characteristics. In India, a substantial share of lead production, approximately 85-90 percent, is derived from recycling. Most of the lead consumed in the nation, over 80 percent, is utilised in battery manufacturing. Indian Recycled lead industry is broadly classified into four clusters north, south, east and west with an aggregate of ~ 672 registered lead recycling units across the country with an installed capacity of ~3.53 million tonnes per annum.

The sector remains fragmented with Chloride Metals leading the recycled lead ingot market with 21.6 percent share, followed by Jain Metal Group at 8.6 percent, Gravita India at 7.6 percent, Nile at 3.2 percent, Pondy Oxides and; Chemicals at 2.5 percent and Ardee Industries at 1.5 percent. Other organised recyclers registered with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) account for 15.6 percent market share while the unorganised sector still controls 24.4 percent and imports meet 14.4 percent of demand.

Among listed peers, Gravita India has already emerged as a market favourite. The stock quoted around INR 1635 on June 4. Gravita had listed on 16th November 2010 at INR 210.40 against an IPO offer price of INR 125 underlining the long-term wealth creation potential investors associate with scaled recycling platforms. Jain Metal Group’s listed market proxy, Jain Resource Recycling, made a strong debut on October 1st 2025. Its INR 1,250 crore IPO was priced at INR 232 per share and listed at about INR 265 on both BSE and NSE, a premium of roughly 14 percent. As of late May 2026, its market capitalisation stood at INR 12,900 crore and stock quoted around INR 357.20 on June 4.

Ardee Industries, meanwhile, adds an IPO-bound dimension to the sector’s capital markets story. Headquartered in New Delhi and established in 1993, the company operates an integrated manufacturing facility at Naidupet, Andhra Pradesh, with installed refining capacity of 1,04,025 MTPA. While its FY25 market share in recycled lead ingots stands at 1.5 percent, Ardee is positioned in a high-relevance pocket of the circular economy, undertaking recovery and recycling of end-of-life energy storage products and non-ferrous scrap into materials used across energy storage, e-mobility, automotive and chemical industries. Its proposed IPO, comprising a fresh issue of INR 320 crore and an offer for sale of up to 3.765 crore shares, could give public market investors exposure to a recycling platform aligned with India’s green industrial and mobility transition.

For investors, the sector’s appeal lies in three numbers including the INR 28,800 crore market size, nearly 39 percent demand still met by unorganised players and imports as well as the rising listed-company scale. As India’s battery, automotive, energy storage and e-mobility supply chains grow, metal recycling is no longer just a compliance story. It is becoming a listed manufacturing, sustainability and circular economy trade.

Tags:

Business

Metal Recycling Industry

Sustainable circular economy

Recycled Lead Market

CMR Green Technologies IPO

Lead Recycling

Sustainable manufacturing

Resource Recovery and Recycling

E-Mobility Supply Chain