- Why in news
- On 5 May 2026, India and the EU launched a third coordinated call for proposals on EV battery recycling under TTC Working Group 2, with a €15.2 million (~₹169 crore) pool.
- What it is
- The India-EU Trade and Technology Council is a strategic coordination mechanism for trade, trusted technology and security. It has three Working Groups. Working Group 2 deals with green and clean energy technologies and runs joint research calls.
- Working Groups
- The TTC has three Working Groups: strategic technologies and digital governance; green and clean energy technologies; trade, investment and resilient value chains.
- Who leads WG2
- WG2 is led by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser from India and the European Commission's DG for Research and Innovation from the EU.
- Policy alignment
- The call is aligned with the EU Batteries Regulation and India's Battery Waste Management Rules 2022.
International bodies and relations: the largest group of news questions in Prelims (61 since 2013), often about background, members and location. In Mains, 27 news-triggered questions, mostly on India's interests.
Why it matters
- Builds secure supply of critical minerals such as lithium, graphite and cobalt and cuts import dependence.
- Advances the circular economy and deepens India-EU strategic ties.
Problems
- The informal recycling sector needs to be brought into safe, formal systems.
- Mixed battery chemistries make recycling technically hard and costly.
Way forward
- Scale the pilot line to industry and enforce the Battery Waste Management Rules 2022.
- Support startups and train informal workers for safe collection.
Put in your answer
Recyclable capacity: India is estimated to have 128 GWh of recyclable battery capacity by 2030.
Virtual mine idea: Battery waste is treated as a source of high-purity materials fed back into new batteries.
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UPSC’s own questions that come close to this issue, from our Prelims and Mains banks.
No practice question for this one; the card may still help an answer. Why: Bilateral body with working groups; international items are 61 of 327 Prelims questions, but this call gives few testable facts.
Worth revising until Prelims 2027: most news questions come within two years of the event.