India Bans Battery Black Mass Exports. Can It Turn Scrap Into a Critical Mineral Supply?
A worn-out electric vehicle battery can still contain valuable lithium, nickel and cobalt. When recyclers shred spent lithium-ion batteries or battery manufacturing scrap, they produce a dark powder called black mass. India has moved to keep more of that material at home so domestic refiners can recover the minerals inside it.
What exactly did India ban?
On November 10, 2026, India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade changed the export status of lithium-ion battery black mass under ITC(HS) 85491400 from Free to Prohibited, effective immediately and until further orders. The tariff code describes a broader category of unsorted battery waste and scrap without lead, cadmium or mercury. The Commerce Ministry’s clarification specifically identifies lithium-ion battery black mass as the material targeted. Transitional provisions apply to qualifying shipments.
Why black mass matters for India’s EV supply chain
Black mass is an intermediate product. Shredding gets the valuable material into a powder, but refiners still have to separate and purify the minerals before manufacturers can use them. What a refiner can recover depends on the original battery chemistry. Nickel- and cobalt-bearing batteries offer a different mix of recoverable materials from lithium iron phosphate batteries.
India’s Commerce Ministry says some domestic recyclers have imported feedstock even as Indian-generated black mass has been exported. Keeping more of it in the country could help existing plants use more of their capacity. The ban also complements India’s ₹1,500 crore critical mineral recycling incentive scheme, which supports recovery from battery waste and other secondary sources.
Can India turn more battery scrap into battery materials?
The first effect of the ban is to change where the material can go. The harder engineering question is whether domestic refiners can handle varying feed compositions, achieve consistent recovery and produce materials that customers will buy. That will depend on refining capacity, operating costs and product quality. The figure to watch is how many tonnes of saleable lithium, nickel, cobalt and other materials Indian refiners produce from domestic battery waste. That will show whether the export ban is building a local source of critical minerals for batteries, electric vehicles and energy storage.
