India has prohibited exports of lithium-ion battery black mass in a move aimed at securing domestic feedstock for recyclers and boosting the recovery of critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt and nickel.
The Directorate-General of Foreign Trade has amended the export policy for lithium-ion battery black mass under ITC(HS) code 85491400 from free to prohibited with immediate effect, according to notification No. 49/2026-27. Transitional arrangements as outlined in the Foreign Trade Policy 2023 will apply.
The code covers waste and scrap from primary cells, batteries and electric accumulators, as well as spent batteries and accumulators that do not contain lead, cadmium or mercury. The notification specifically identifies the material as lithium-ion battery black mass.
Black mass is the powder produced from shredding end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and battery manufacturing scrap. It contains valuable recoverable metals including lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese, key inputs for electric vehicles (EVs), battery manufacturing, energy storage systems and renewable energy technologies.
The government said the restriction is intended to ensure that black mass generated in India is processed within the country rather than exported, improving raw material availability for domestic recycling and refining plants.
India's battery recycling and critical mineral recovery industry has expanded in recent years, but capacity utilisation has been constrained by limited feedstock availability. Industry participants have at times relied on imported battery waste despite the availability of domestically generated black mass.
By retaining the material within the country, the government expects to increase domestic recovery of critical minerals, reduce dependence on imported raw materials and lower foreign exchange outflows. The measure is also intended to support investment and job creation in the recycling sector and strengthen supply chains for batteries, EVs and energy storage technologies.
The restriction aligns with India's broader strategy of developing a domestic critical minerals ecosystem. It also complements the government's Rs15bn ($177mn) incentive scheme, approved in September 2025, to support critical minerals recycling and recovery from secondary sources such as battery waste and electronic scrap.
