Centre bans export of lithium-ion battery black mass with immediate effect

The Centre has banned the export of lithium-ion battery black mass with immediate effect. A notification from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), dated November 10, 2026, changes the export policy for the item from “Free” to “Prohibited”, and the restriction stays “until further orders”.

Black mass is the dark powder left when used lithium-ion batteries and battery factory scrap are shredded and processed. It holds lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese and graphite, which recyclers can extract through chemical processing. Until now Indian shredders could sell it to refiners abroad. From now they cannot.

What the notification says

Notification 49/2026-27 is titled “Amendment in Export Policy of Waste and Scrap of Primary Cells, Primary Batteries and Electric Accumulators (Lithium-Ion Battery Black Mass) under ITC (HS) 85491400”. The tariff line covers waste and scrap of cells and batteries, including spent ones. The notification identifies unsorted battery waste that contains no lead, cadmium or mercury as lithium-ion black mass.

The Centre issued it under Section 3 read with Section 5 of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992, and the Foreign Trade Policy 2023. Reports on the notification say transitional arrangements follow para 1.05 of that policy, and they list no exceptions. The change does not amount to a blanket ban on battery exports. It applies only to this category of waste.

The stated aim is to keep domestically generated black mass in India. That should raise the supply of raw material to recyclers, improve use of their capacity, draw investment and jobs, and reduce imports of the same metals along with the foreign exchange spent on them.

How we got here

The move follows a request from a recycler. In January 2025 the Environment Ministry’s Technical Review Committee, at its 91st meeting on January 28, took up a plea from Attero Recycling for a ban on black mass exports. The committee noted that 16 units in India process lithium-ion batteries and 12 of them also process black mass, with a combined input capacity of 75,500 tonnes a year.

The committee found that state pollution control boards classify black mass differently, some as hazardous waste and others as “metal oxide powder” or a product. It recommended treating it as hazardous waste unless it is processed on the same premises, so any movement across borders needs permission under the hazardous waste rules.

Industry accounts describe a gap that the rules did not close. India can recycle more than 60,000 tonnes of lithium-ion batteries a year, producing around 30,000 tonnes of black mass, according to one industry explainer. Refiners in China and South Korea can often pay more and settle faster than Indian buyers, so some material has gone abroad, and a few Indian refiners have ended up short of feedstock and importing similar material at higher prices. The same account says some shredders shipped black mass under wrong labels after an earlier temporary ban, a claim we have not independently confirmed.

Why it matters

India imports most of the lithium, cobalt and nickel that go into electric vehicle and storage batteries. Recycling is meant to supply a growing share. In September 2025 the Union Cabinet approved a ₹1,500 crore scheme to back recovery of critical minerals from secondary sources such as battery and electronic waste, and black mass is the feedstock those plants need. On November 4 the Cabinet also cleared ₹14,500 crore of viability gap funding for energy storage and ₹2,814 crore for critical mineral plants, which will add to demand for battery materials.

For exporters of black mass the order closes a market at once. For domestic refiners it should mean more material and, in principle, lower buying prices than overseas bidders would have forced. Whether refining capacity is large enough to take all of it is not settled by the notification.

Reactions and what next

No statement from the Commerce Ministry, recyclers or exporters had been published at the time of writing, so none is quoted here. The ban has no end date. Watch for any DGFT clarification on shipments already contracted or at ports, and for how customs treats consignments caught under the transitional para.