Yash Gupta: The 26-Year-Old Industrialist Building India’s Clean-Tech Metal Backbone

In a world where most twenty-somethings are still finding their feet, Yash Gupta, at just 26, has not only found his purpose, he’s begun reshaping a nation's industrial future. As the founder of Rikayaa Greentech Pvt Ltd and Rikayaa Enterprises Limited, Yash is quietly but powerfully leading a revolution in critical metals and sustainable manufacturing and redefining what it means to be a new-age entrepreneur in India.

A Rare Industry, A Rare Mindset

Tin isn’t glamorous like gold or as hyped as lithium. But in modern manufacturing, Tin is essential. It powers your electronics, protects your food packaging, connects circuits in EVs, and holds together solar panels. India consumes over ₹14,000 crore worth of Tin annually, yet until recently, almost 100% of it was imported, primarily from Indonesia and Malaysia.

It was in this blind spot that Yash saw a vision, not just of profit, but of patriotic innovation. “Everyone was chasing tech, but few were solving India’s hard industrial problems,” he says. “I wanted to fix what no one else was willing to touch.”

The First In India And Still The Only One

In 2025, Rikayaa Greentech became the first and only company in India to receive a BIS (Bureau of Indian Standards) certification for Tin Ingots under IS 26:2024. This isn’t just regulatory validation, it’s history in the making. Until then, India had no certified domestic Tin producers, and global reliance was considered inevitable.

Rikayaa’s breakthrough? A patent published green refining process that recovers 99.90% pure Tin from scrap and e-waste, without mining of natural resources, without foreign dependence, and with 20% more energy efficiency than traditional smelting.

“It’s not just about producing Tin—it’s about how we produce it,” Yash explains. “We built a cleaner, smarter, more sustainable way, and proved that India can lead in this space.”

A Bussiness Built On Innovation, Compliance And Courage

Innovation without scale is a hobby. But Yash Gupta made sure Rikayaa was built to grow without compromising on compliance or sustainability.

His company is a DPIIT-recognized startup, granted 100% income tax exemption under Section 80IAC by the Inter-Ministerial Board which is a rare endorsement reserved for high-impact, R&D-driven ventures. Rikayaa is also ZED–Gold Certified (Zero Effect Zero Defect) and holds global manufacturing accreditations, including ISO 9001, 14001, 22000, ROHS, and REACH compliance.

Their refining technology has been officially published as a patent, making it not only unique in India but benchmarkable internationally.

At the heart of operations is a state-of-the-art facility in Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, built to scale without sacrificing the environmental ethos Yash lives by.

A Circular Economy Pioneer In Strategic Metals

What makes Yash Gupta’s journey especially remarkable is the broader vision it supports. As the Government of India pushes for Atmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India, critical minerals like Tin have finally been recognized for what they are, strategic resources that India must control to secure its industrial future.

Yash was already building for this moment.

“We’ve always believed that circular economy is the future,” he says. “Why mine the earth when we can recover what we need from our own waste?”

Rikayaa’s process extracts Tin from low-grade industrial scrap and e-waste, delivering LME-grade equivalent Tin without the environmental destruction of mining. With the government announcing a ₹1,500 crore subsidy scheme for critical mineral recycling, Rikayaa is one of the few companies already operating at the center of this policy.

What's Next? A Multi-Metal Empire

While Tin is the foundation, Yash Gupta’s ambitions stretch wider. Rikayaa Enterprises Limited is already active in Copper, Brass, and Aluminium Alloys.

“Our vision is to build India’s first clean-tech metal platform,” Yash says. “From tin to aluminium, we want to give Indian industry the materials it needs—without environmental trade-offs or import dependence.”

This means more than growth, it means building supply chain sovereignty in an era where geopolitics can break business.

A New Generation Of Industrial Leadership

Forbes, Bloomberg, startup forums, they all have one thing in common: they often focus on digital tech. But Yash Gupta represents a new kind of startup founder. One who isn’t writing code, but writing the future of India’s industrial resilience.

He’s part metallurgist, part strategist, part patriot and entirely self-made.

So when ELLE asks: What does success look like for someone who leads with compliance, not shortcuts? Who builds quietly, but boldly?

The answer is clear: It looks like Rikayaa. It looks like Yash Gupta.