India bans lithium-ion black mass exports with immediate effect

India has banned exports of lithium-ion battery black mass with immediate effect, switching the export policy from 'Free' to 'Prohibited' to keep feedstock inside the country's under-utilised recycling plants.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the Department of Commerce, issued the amendment in a notification that applies until further orders. Transitional arrangements under the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023 govern shipments already in motion.

The restriction covers a broad classification. It spans unsorted waste and scrap from primary cells, primary batteries and electric accumulators, plus spent cells, batteries and accumulators free of lead, cadmium or mercury.

What exactly is black mass?

Black mass is the powder produced by shredding end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and battery manufacturing waste. It carries recoverable lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese — metals that feed electric mobility, advanced chemistry cell (next-generation EV battery) production, energy storage, electronics and renewable energy applications.

The government said the ban will retain domestically generated black mass for processing in India. The reasoning is blunt: expanded recycling and critical mineral refining capacity in the country is not being fully utilised because feedstock is scarce. Trap the input, and the plants run harder.

Why does the numbers gap matter?

What does this change for India's battery supply chain? Three things, per the official statement:

• Better feedstock availability and higher capacity utilisation at domestic recyclers and refiners
• Increased recovery of critical minerals for the EV and battery industries
• Reduced import dependence and the associated foreign exchange outflow

The macro backdrop sharpens the case. According to GlobalData, parent of Just Auto, lithium supply is heavily concentrated — mineral production is led by Australia, Chile and China, while China dominates processing and refining across the value chain.

India still imports more than 80% of its critical minerals. But GlobalData notes the country is cutting that dependence through overseas assets, trade deals, domestic refining, recycling, exploration and alternative-technology R&D.

How it fits the wider minerals push

The export ban does not stand alone. It complements the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM), which gained fresh firepower in September 2025 when the Union Cabinet approved a Rs15bn ($160m) Incentive Scheme.

That scheme funds the development of recycling capacity for separating and producing critical minerals from secondary sources — specifically including battery waste and e-waste. The export ban and the incentive scheme work as a pair: one keeps the raw material onshore, the other pays for the plants to process it.

For battery recyclers and cell makers operating in India, the immediate effect is a larger domestic black mass pool and less competition from overseas buyers. For international traders who had been shipping Indian black mass to processors abroad — often in China or South Korea — the channel just closed.

What to watch next: whether recyclers' capacity utilisation actually climbs on the new feedstock, what transitional shipments clear under FTP 2023 rules, and whether the ban gets extended, tightened or relaxed in future DGFT orders. The NCMM incentive disbursements, and the first capacity milestones they fund, will signal whether the policy pairing delivers.