India has barred exports of a defined stream of unsorted battery waste to keep mineral-bearing material available for domestic recycling and refining as it builds critical-mineral processing capacity.
The Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) issued Notification No. 49/2026-27 on Nov. 10. It covers material under ITC (HS) code 85491400: unsorted waste and scrap from primary cells, primary batteries and electric accumulators, including spent items that contain no lead, cadmium or mercury. The notification identifies the material as lithium-ion battery black mass. The export restriction took effect immediately and remains in place pending another order, with transitional arrangements under paragraph 1.05 of the Foreign Trade Policy, 2023.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industry describes black mass as powder produced by shredding end-of-life lithium-ion batteries and battery-manufacturing waste. It says the material contains recoverable lithium, cobalt, nickel and manganese.
The ministry says domestic recycling and refining capacity has grown but is underused because of insufficient feedstock. It also says black mass has been exported from India while some domestic recyclers have imported it. The government expects the restriction to improve feedstock access and facility use. Exporters of material covered by the code lose the option to sell it abroad under this classification; the ministry expects local processors to benefit from greater availability.
The trade data cited in other reporting differs from the ministry’s broader account. Press Trust of India (PTI), in a report carried by ThePrint and citing the Global Trade Research Initiative, said India recorded no exports under code 85491400 in FY2026. The ministry’s announcement did not address the discrepancy. Shyamasis Das, a fellow at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress, told The Indian Express that some industry participants sell black mass abroad instead of recovering its minerals.
The Union Cabinet approved a ₹1,500 crore incentive scheme for critical-mineral recycling on Sept. 3, 2025. A separate ₹2,814 crore capital-support scheme, approved Nov. 4, 2026, offers a 30% subsidy for two lithium and two nickel processing plants and runs from FY 2026-27 through FY 2030-31. The export restriction has no announced review date.
