Trisha Ghosh, Pune
The Adani Group is planning to construct a copper manufacturing plant in Mundra, Gujarat to increase India’s copper production for the much-demanded transition to renewable energy sources. The project will be spearheaded by Kutch Copper Ltd., which is a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises Ltd. The facility has cost $1.2 billion and its production is designed into 2 phases. As per details from a couple of sources on this matter, it is expected to begin operations of the first phase by the end of March this year.
Adani’s primary goal is to help India expand its domestic production of copper, in the same way as countries like China are already doing. Copper is a metal that is essential for India’s objective of transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Various technologies and methods involved in renewable power necessitate the use of copper. These include electric vehicles, solar photovoltaics and batteries.
Kutch Copper Ltd. plans to build a greenfield copper refinery and aims for a capacity of 1 million tonnes per annum in 2 phases. “Adani wants to become a global leader in the copper business,” one of the 2 sources said. They also aim to be the largest copper smelting complex globally by 2030.
Currently, copper is one of the most used metals in industry, third only to steel and aluminium. India’s demand for copper has been rapidly rising as the renewable energy, electric vehicle and telecom industries grow.
However, domestic supply has been low, unable to meet burgeoning demand, leading to high import rates. India has thus become dependent on imported copper. For FY23, around 1,81,000 tonnes were imported, whilst exports were a mere 30,000 tonnes. This was even lower than the export figure during the pandemic period. Hence, a major advantage of this plant will be a reduced reliance on imports. The manufacturing plant is estimated to be highly profitable as demand forecasts expect copper demand in India to increase to 1.7 million tonnes by 2027.
Prominently, Adani Group’s venture into copper manufacturing comes in addition to its operations in trading, infrastructure, logistics, mining and other manufacturing. It has a competitive advantage to supply into the global market as well.
Kutch Copper Ltd. plans to produce copper cathodes, and rods, alongside byproducts with high value, including gold, platinum and silver. Furthermore, sulphuric acid will be produced by the complex. Indian already imports 2 million tonnes of sulphuric acid, which is an essential substance for everyday products such as detergents, phosphatic fertilisers, paper bleaching and water treatment.
Adani’s new project is likely to allow future operations for more copper assets, while upcoming mining operations globally will boost supply for the time being, thereby balancing out the demand. Kutch Copper aims for lower greenhouse gas emissions and with its agreements for long-term supply of the key material — copper concentrate — it may prove to be one of the most low-cost as well as sustainable copper producers globally.