India has banned exports of lithium-ion battery black mass with immediate effect, a move intended to secure domestic feedstock for battery recycling and critical-mineral recovery in electric vehicles. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), under the Department of Commerce, amended the export policy from “Free” to “Prohibited” until further orders.

What does the prohibition cover?

The amendment applies to two defined groups of material:

• Unsorted waste and scrap from primary cells, primary batteries and electric accumulators.
• Spent cells, batteries and accumulators that do not contain lead, cadmium or mercury.

Transitional arrangements under the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2023 will apply. The notice states that the restriction takes effect immediately and remains in force until further orders, removing the export option for covered Indian-origin material.

What is black mass, and why does it matter?

The notification identifies black mass as a powder produced by shredding end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and battery manufacturing waste. The process creates a secondary feedstock containing recoverable lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese.

Those four minerals support electric mobility, advanced chemistry cell batteries, energy storage, electronics and renewable energy applications. Their recovery therefore makes the export rule a feedstock decision with direct implications for India’s battery-material supply chain.

Why is India retaining the material?

The government said the restriction will keep domestically generated black mass available for processing in India. It cited expanded recycling and critical-mineral refining capacity that is not fully utilised because feedstock availability remains limited.

The measure intends to improve feedstock availability and capacity utilisation at the same time. The government expects it to increase critical-mineral recovery for the electric-vehicle and battery industries, while reducing import dependence and associated foreign-exchange outflow.

For processors, the policy is comparable to a refinery retaining its own raw material rather than exporting the input unprocessed. The government expects that combination to raise throughput at existing facilities, improve recovery of lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese, and direct more supply toward domestic battery industries.

How exposed is India to global supply concentration?

GlobalData, the parent firm of Just Auto, said lithium supply remains concentrated. Mineral production is led by Australia, Chile and China, while China dominates processing and refining across the value chain.

India imports more than 80% of its critical minerals, according to the research firm. It is reducing that dependence through overseas assets, trade deals, domestic refining, recycling, exploration and alternative-technology research and development.

The export ban addresses the domestic processing side of that supply chain. It does not change the production and refining concentration identified by GlobalData, but it gives Indian recyclers and refiners priority access to black mass generated inside the country.

How does the ban fit the wider policy?

The export ban complements the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM), including its Rs15bn ($160m) Incentive Scheme. The Union Cabinet approved the scheme in September 2025.

The scheme supports development of recycling capacity for separating and producing critical minerals from secondary sources, including battery waste and e-waste. Together, the export prohibition and the incentive target the same bottleneck: securing enough secondary material to use domestic refining capacity.

What changes for industry?

For domestic recyclers, the prohibition should enlarge the pool of locally generated black mass available for processing. It should also raise utilisation of the recycling and critical-mineral refining lines that India says remain underused because feedstock is limited.

For vehicle and battery manufacturers, the commercial payoff depends on converting that additional feedstock into recovered lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese. Additional output would support electric mobility, advanced chemistry cell batteries and energy storage, alongside electronics and renewable-energy applications.

The covered export channel closes for exporters and traders, while processors gain a stronger domestic intake. That shift may reduce import requirements and foreign-exchange outflow only if collection, recycling and refining expand together. The policy provides the feedstock mechanism; the Rs15bn incentive supports the processing capacity needed to turn that feedstock into recovered minerals.