Every solar panel, wind turbine, EV motor, transformer, and kilometre of transmission line runs on copper.

The recent tensions around the Strait of Hormuz are another reminder that supply chains have become the new fault lines of geopolitics. As India advances towards Viksit Bharat and Amrit Kaal, copper is no longer just an industrial commodity.

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted this vulnerability as he underscored a larger strategic challenge: weakening domestic copper capacity had increased India’s dependence on external supply chains at a time when competition for critical resources was intensifying.

Therefore, the countries seeking energy security and lower oil dependence through electrification and renewable energy cannot remain reliant on imported copper supply chains. Strengthening domestic smelting and refining along with downstream copper manufacturing is therefore no longer just an industrial priority.

Copper is more than just an infrastructure

Every solar panel, wind turbine, EV motor, transformer, and kilometre of transmission line runs on copper. Currently, India consumes just 1 kg of copper per person annually, against a world average of 3.2 kg and China’s 14 kg. The Ministry of Mines, Copper Vision Document 2025 projects a five-fold rise in domestic demand to approximately 10 million tonnes by 2047.

India once held over one million tonnes of copper smelting and refining capacity and exported 378,000 tonnes of cathodes annually. But when the protests and a state government order forced Sterlite Copper to close its Tuticorin smelter in 2018, cathode exports collapsed to 48,000 tonnes. As a result, India became a net importer of copper, and we spent the following years as an import-depended nation.

China understood the importance of copper long ago. China’s rise offers an important lesson. Despite holding only, a modest share of global copper ore reserves, China built the world’s largest copper smelting and refining ecosystem through long-term industrial planning, coastal manufacturing zones, state-backed financing, and overseas concentrate partnerships.

Today, China possesses nearly 15 million tonnes of copper smelting capacity and controls more than half of global refined copper output, according to the International Copper Study Group’s World Copper Factbook 2025. That smelting and refining strength enabled China to manufacture over 14 million electric vehicles annually while installing more than 430 GW of renewable energy capacity in a single year. China today also controls nearly 80% of global solar manufacturing and over 70 per cent of EV battery production.

Gujarat now becoming India’s copper backbone

This is where Gujarat’s emergence becomes nationally significant. Over the last few years, the State has quietly developed India’s most integrated copper-processing ecosystem through a combination of port infrastructure, industrial integration, policy stability.

Hindalco Industries operates one of the world’s largest single-location copper smelters at Dahej with a capacity of 500,000 tonnes per annum. The company is also investing nearly $1.1 billion for a 300 KTPA expansion at Dahej and building 200 KTPA of copper & e-waste recycling capacity. At Mundra, Adani Group’s Kutch Copper project has already been commissioned and is expected to scale to one million tonnes annually over time, potentially making it one of the largest integrated copper facilities. Vedanta has also strengthened downstream copper operations within the State.

With this Gujarat will boast a refined copper capacity of over 2 MTPA, making it larger than that in Europe or Japan and even the US. Importantly, Gujarat’s rise extends beyond refining. Companies such as Hindalco, Adani, RR Global, and Mettube are expanding manufacturing capacities through integrated industrial ecosystems.

India needs more Gujarat-like copper ecosystems

Recent policy measures indicate that India is beginning to recognise copper’s strategic importance. The Union Budget 2024-25 introduced duty rationalisation for copper concentrates and measures supporting recycling and domestic processing. The Khanij Bidesh India Limited (KABIL) and Coal India Limited (CIL) are securing long-term access to critical mineral resources.

However, Gujarat alone cannot meet India’s future copper demand. Every state hosting a major copper facility must recognise that its closure is a national energy security event, not a local industrial decision. India does not have a copper shortage. It has a copper strategy shortage and the window to fix it is narrowing.

The author is Managing Director, International Copper Association India

Published on June 6, 2026