NEW DELHI, May 29 -- India's electric vehicle (EV) battery, energy storage services, and stainless-steel sectors are bracing for higher nickel prices and supply uncertainty of nickel derivatives in the wake of the West Asia war, according to four people aware of the matter.

This is because plants that refine the silvery-white metal in Indonesia face phosphorus and sulphur supply shortages from West Asia due to the war and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, the people said.

Nickel holds the key to India's energy transition and its clean energy technologies. The country imports about 80% of its ferronickel (an alloy of nickel and iron) requirements from Indonesia. Ferronickel and nickel pig iron (NPI), both alloys of iron and nickel, a...