Adan Group's largest single-location copper manufacturing plant at Mundra will start operations of the first phase by March-end, news agency PTI reported on Sunday, citing sources. The $1.2 billion facility in Gujarat will bring down India's dependence on imports and aid energy transition, they said, adding that it will have a full-scale 1 million tonnes capacity by FY29 (March 2029).
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Kutch Copper Ltd (KCL), a subsidiary of the group’s flagship Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL), is setting up a greenfield copper refinery project for the production of refined copper with 1 million tonnes per annum capacity in two phases. For Phase-1, capacity of 0.5 million tonnes per annum, KCL achieved financial closure through a syndicated club loan in June 2022.
"Adani wants to become a global leader in the copper business, leveraging the Adani Group’s strong position in resource trading, logistics, renewable power, and infrastructure," one of the sources told PTI. "Their aim is to be the world’s largest copper smelting complex by 2030."
India's per capita copper consumption is estimated at around 0.6 kg compared to the global average of 3.2 kg, the source said. "India's drive towards clean energy systems, increasing penetration of electric vehicles, and a host of associated applications are expected to double the domestic copper demand by 2030."
Copper is the third most used industrial metal after steel and aluminium, and its demand is rising on the back of the fast-growing renewable energy, telecom, and electric vehicle industries. India's copper production has been unable to meet this demand, and domestic supply disruptions have led to a higher dependency on imported copper. The country's imports have been consistently on the rise for the past five years.
For FY23 (April 2022 to March 2023 fiscal), India imported a record 1,81,000 tonnes of copper, while exports plummeted to a record low of 30,000 tonnes, even lower than the Covid pandemic period, according to the data from the government. The country is estimated to have consumed 7,50,000 tonnes of copper in FY23 (612 KT in FY22). The number is expected to rise to 1.7 million tonnes by 2027 on the back of huge demand from the green energy industry.
(With inputs from PTI)