Indian Govt bans export of lithium-ion battery black mass

In a major regulatory shift for India’s EV supply chain ecosystem, the Centre has issued directions to prohibit export of ‘black mass’, a mineral-rich product of recycled EV batteries. 

The directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, notified the amendment yesterday. It is immediately applicable to all outbound shipments of the battery waste material. 

“The export policy of waste and scrap of primary cells, primary batteries and electric accumulators; spent primary cells, spent primary batteries and spent electric accumulators – Unsorted and not containing lead, cadmium or mercury (Lithium-lon Battery Black Mass) under ITC (HS) Code 85491400 is amended from ‘Free’ to ‘Prohibited’ with immediate effect, until further orders,” the directorate said in a circular. 

For context, black mass is a powder obtained from shredding end-of-life lithium ion batteries that is rich in valuable metals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel. These metals can be recovered from the black mass and reused in new batteries, which saves costs compared to mining fresh reserves. 

As India is dependent on imports for these raw materials, black mass has strategic value by enabling these metals to be sourced locally. 

The new export policy ties into the centre’s strategic push to reduce India’s dependence on imports of critical minerals. In September 2025, the government approved incentives worth ₹1,500 Cr to develop domestic capacity for recycling critical minerals. 

It followed up on the move earlier this week with the Capex Support Scheme to Promote Critical Mineral Processing, which committed an outlay of ₹2,814 Cr to set up two plants each for lithium and nickel processing. 

According to the Observer Research Foundation, India can recycle over 60,000 tonnes of batteries per year, which can generate around 30,000 tonnes of black mass. However, due to limited processing capacity, the black mass typically gets exported to foreign markets. 

Hence, this new restriction could retain critical raw materials within domestic borders. That said, India’s black mass extraction and refining capabilities still need to be built up in order to ensure that the full economic value can be captured. 

India’s battery recycling market reached $603.9 Mn in 2025 and is projected to reach $1.3 Bn by 2034, growing at a CAGR of 8.65%. As the battery manufacturing ecosystem scales, ensuring that strategic materials can be processed within domestic borders will be critical to building a more resilient supply chain. 

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