Why India has banned battery waste export
What's the story
India has banned the export of lithium-ion battery black mass and other related battery waste. The move, effective immediately, is aimed at keeping critical minerals within the country, boosting domestic recycling capabilities, and reducing import dependence. The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) announced this by changing the policy status for black mass from 'Free' to 'Prohibited' under ITC (HS) Code 85491400.
Material breakdown
What is black mass?
Black mass is a powdery substance obtained from shredding end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and battery manufacturing waste.
It contains recoverable quantities of critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and manganese.
The value of black mass isn't fixed but determined by expected recovery rates, processing charges, impurities present in the material, laboratory testing costs, as well as market value for recoverable materials at any given time.
Mineral extraction
What does it contain?
Black mass contains critical minerals such as cobalt, tin, lithium, nickel, manganese, silicon, rhenium, and graphite.
Different batteries yield different materials; for instance, Nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) batteries contain nickel and cobalt with lithium, while Lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries are harder to recycle economically without these two metals.
The recovered critical minerals from black mass can be used in clean energy technologies, high-tech electronics, transport, telecommunications, and even defense applications.
Import dependency
Why is it important?
India is heavily reliant on imports for critical minerals like lithium and cobalt, which are essential for energy storage, electronics, renewable energy, among other sectors.
These minerals are key components in clean energy technologies, high-tech electronics, transport, telecommunications, and even defense applications.
Their availability is crucial to India's goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2070.
However, the presence and processing of these minerals are geographically concentrated in a few countries, making global supply chains vulnerable to factors like geopolitical disruptions.
Import statistics
Import dependence
According to NITI Aayog's September 2026 Trade Watch report, India is still 100% import-dependent for nickel and cobalt supplies.
The ban on black mass exports comes just days after the Union Cabinet approved a new scheme providing capital expenditure support for critical mineral processing.
With an outlay of ₹2,814 crore, the scheme will focus on creating an ecosystem for lithium and nickel processing.
Economic impact
Creating a circular economy
The new scheme is expected to give a major push to sectors such as electric mobility, battery energy storage systems, electronics, and defense specialty steel.
By keeping black mass in domestic recycling plants, India can create a circular economy where minerals recovered from old batteries are used for making new ones.
This could lead to improved processing, disposal of hazardous battery waste, while reducing import dependence.
Recycling initiatives
Recycling capacity in India
The ban on battery waste export complements the government's efforts under the National Critical Mineral Mission (NCMM).
This includes a ₹1,500 crore incentive scheme to build recycling capacity for separation and production of critical minerals from secondary sources.
India has 57 lithium-ion battery recyclers with a combined annual processing capacity of 5.17 lakh metric tons.
Their capacity to process lithium-ion battery black mass is estimated at around 75,500 metric tons per annum.