Walk through any large Indian city today and the EV shift is hard to miss. A row of delivery scooters buzzing quietly outside a restaurant, a few electric cabs waiting near a bus stop, a charging point squeezed in beside the usual line of parked cars at a mall. It’s clear something is changing. But if you look past the obvious, the real story isn’t in the vehicles at all — it’s in the one part most people seldom see: the battery.
India began leaning toward EVs for reasons that had little to do with trend-chasing. Fuel prices weren’t getting any friendlier, pollution levels were climbing, and the country had global climate targets hanging over it. EVs promised to offer a way forward that felt both inevitable and practical. Yet the more the market grows, the more it becomes obvious that the real battle isn’t about what we drive — it’s about who controls the materials that make those drives possible.
A lithium-ion battery doesn’t look like much from the outside, but it decides nearly everything about an EV’s usefulness. Range, charging speed, cost, safety — all of it comes down to the chemistry inside. Most of the attention goes to the cells, but the anode and cathode do the heavy lifting. They also happen to be the parts India imports the most. A dependency worked when EV numbers were small. Now, with demand rising, that dependence is starting to look more like a long-term risk.
Even a basic EV battery pack can account for a third (sometimes more) of the vehicle’s cost. Which means whoever owns the material science behind it also shapes the pace at which EVs become affordable in India. Cathode materials like LFP and LMFP, and new anode blends that mix graphite with silicon are pushing performance upward — faster charging, better safety, longer life. These aren’t futuristic concepts; they’re already being tried in pilot lines in multiple markets, and the results are encouraging.
However, as India thinks about larger EV adoption, another uncomfortable truth emerges – the world’s supply of battery-grade materials is concentrated in a handful of geographies. If global tensions flare or prices swing wildly, India doesn’t have many levers to pull. More than three-quarters of the critical components used in lithium-ion batteries still come from outside the country. That alone explains why domestic production of battery materials has gone from being an industry talking point to a strategic priority.
Manufacturing these materials here solves more than one problem. It steadies the supply chain, trims import bills, keeps value creation inside the country, and gives local cell makers along with ancillaries a clearer runway. And, importantly, it builds technical jobs — the sort of roles in electrochemistry, nanomaterials, automation, and thermal design that India will need if it wants to lead in clean energy instead of simply supporting it.
There’s also a part of the conversation that rarely gets the attention it deserves: recycling. A battery that has reached the end of its vehicle life isn’t waste. It’s a compact, high-value collection of metals and minerals that India spends heavily to import. If a proper segregation, collection and recycling network takes shape — one that can safely transport, disassemble and recover materials — the country could reclaim a meaningful share of the graphite, lithium and other minerals that went into the pack in the first place.
Countries that succeed in closing this loop won’t just reduce waste; they’ll shield themselves from the raw material shortages that everyone sees coming. EV adoption is moving far faster than mining capacity can keep up. Recycling gives nations a second reservoir of material — one that doesn’t depend on global commodity cycles.
All of these ties back to one simple idea: India’s EV future will be shaped less by how many vehicles are sold, and more by how well the country manages the chemistry behind them. Building cars and two-wheelers is important, but building the materials that power them is where the long-term advantage lies. Nations that figure out battery materials, circular systems and sustainable manufacturing early will influence the global energy economy far more than those who enter the race late.
India has the scientists, the industrial scale and the policy momentum to make this shift. What matters now is timing — moving from being a buyer and assembler of advanced materials to becoming a producer and, eventually, an innovator in them. The EV transition is already underway. The bigger question is whether India will also own the technology that drives it. That’s where the next phase of leadership will come from, and it’s a race worth winning.
Click Here to get the latest EV news and exclusive updates from EV Mechanica on WhatsApp!
