India’s technology ambitions are usually discussed through the lens of semiconductors, Artificial Intelligence (AI), electric mobility, renewable energy and advanced manufacturing. But every technology system rests on a more basic industrial foundation: Materials that can deliver reliable power, perform consistently and remain available when supply chains are disrupted. Primary lead deserves a place in that conversation.
The most visible case is batteries. More than 80% of lead consumed in India goes into batteries, while India’s lead-acid battery market is projected to reach about $9.6 billion by 2030. Automotive starting, lighting and ignition batteries remain a major application, but demand also comes from telecom networks, UPS systems, industrial backup power, stationary storage and other areas where dependable, stored power is critical.
Electric mobility does not remove that requirement; it changes the role batteries play. Lithium-ion is becoming the dominant chemistry for Electric Vehicle (EV) traction, but lead-acid batteries continue to be used in low-voltage and auxiliary systems. In 2024, the US Department of Energy earmarked $10 million to improve 12-volt lead-acid batteries for safety-critical EV applications.
The point is not that one chemistry will replace another. Modern energy systems are becoming multi-chemistry systems, with different battery technologies suited to different jobs. Lithium-ion offers advantages in high-energy applications. Lead batteries continue to be relevant where reliability, established performance, high discharge capability, cost and recyclability are important.
Developed markets are also beginning to look at batteries as complete value chains rather than simply finished products. Europe’s Batteries Regulation, for instance, brings recycling, material recovery, recycled-content documentation, responsible sourcing and traceability into a common framework. The direction is significant for India as well. A resilient battery industry requires more than cell or battery manufacturing capacity. It also requires dependable raw-material supply, consistent quality and effective circularity. India already has a meaningful domestic base in primary lead. Hindustan Zinc estimates that its share of India’s domestic primary lead market rose from 74% in Financial Year (FY) 2024-25 to 92% in FY2025-26. During the year, it sold 151,000 tonnes of refined lead domestically, with production focused on 99.99% purity, London Metal Exchange-registered lead.
The relevance of these numbers goes beyond market share. They demonstrate that India has mine-to-metal capability at scale for a material that feeds mobility, stationary power, digital infrastructure and strategic applications.
For advanced battery applications, availability by itself is not enough. Purity, consistency and traceability influence manufacturing quality and predictable performance. Trace impurities can affect corrosion, gassing, self-discharge and battery life. Domestic primary lead therefore has a distinct role to play as a reliable source of metal produced to defined specifications. It complements, rather than displaces, India’s recycled-lead ecosystem.
The case becomes clearer as demand for backup and stationary power expands. India has deployed more than 5.18 lakh 5G base transceiver stations, while data-centre capacity, industrial digitalisation and distributed power systems continue to grow. Telecom towers, data centres, factories, hospitals and other critical facilities all require resilience against power interruptions.
Lead-acid batteries remain part of that backup architecture in many applications because energy density is not the only consideration. Predictability, rapid power delivery, proven performance and reliability can be just as important.
Defence raises the stakes further.
Submarines are a useful example. DRDO documentation includes large lead-acid batteries for submarines as well as monitoring systems for onboard batteries. In conventional submarines, batteries form part of the vessel’s core underwater energy system. Performance therefore becomes an operational issue, not merely a procurement specification.
In such applications, material quality takes on strategic importance. Historical submarine-battery specifications have required primary lead for lead oxides to support battery life and limit the risks associated with unwanted impurities. The underlying principle remains relevant: Where failure carries serious operational consequences, purity, consistency and predictable performance cannot be secondary considerations.
This has wider implications as India expands indigenous defence manufacturing. Domestic defence production reached a record ₹1.78 lakh crore in FY2025-26, while exports rose to ₹38,424 crore. As Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat push localisation deeper into defence platforms, vehicles, electronics and subsystems, self-reliance will increasingly need to extend beyond final assembly.
The materials and components behind those systems matter just as much.
This is ultimately a supply-chain issue. India can manufacture more batteries, vehicles, telecom equipment and defence systems domestically, but dependence on external sources for important raw materials still leaves the value chain exposed. Recent disruptions across semiconductors, energy and critical minerals have shown how quickly a widely available input can acquire strategic importance when global supply tightens.
Recycling will remain central to the lead industry. Lead’s ability to remain in circulation through repeated recycling is one of its major strengths, and a robust secondary-lead ecosystem is essential for both resource efficiency and sustainability.
But circularity does not eliminate the need for primary production. As India’s battery and technology economy expands, new metal must continue to enter the system. Some applications will also demand particularly high levels of purity, consistency, reliability, traceability and quality assurance.
That is where domestic primary lead has a continuing role. It provides a dependable source of high-quality material, reduces exposure to external supply disruptions and works alongside recycled lead to deepen India’s domestic materials ecosystem.
Primary lead may be a mature metal. Its relevance, however, is increasingly tied to some of the most modern parts of the economy: Electric mobility, digital infrastructure, distributed power and sophisticated defence systems.
The larger Make in India opportunity therefore goes beyond what India assembles or manufactures at the final stage. Technological self-reliance will increasingly depend on how resilient the materials ecosystem behind those technologies becomes.
(The views expressed are personal)
This article is authored by Amit Pandey, CTAIO & co-founder, Augmen.io and GenAI mentor – Mining, Manufacturing & BFSI, SINE, IIT Bombay.