State-owned Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL) on Friday said its board has approved awarding contract to Lohum Materials Pvt Ltd for restarting operations of Gujarat Copper Plant, a unit of HCL, under a ‘Revenue Sharing Model’.

The agreement will initially remain valid for 20 years and is likely to be extended by an additional five years.

The board also approved a proposal to sign a pact with Engineers India Ltd (EIL) to collaborate on a range of technical and project services.

The company may also explore the possibility of exploration of copper blocks in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Sikkim.

The decision, taken at a board meeting on Friday on signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between HCL and Engineers India Ltd, covers cooperation pre-project and exploration covers cooperation in pre-project and exploration services, engineering, detailed design, and specialised metallurgy, safety and statutory compliance studies, integrity assessments, and sustainability and advanced technical solutions, HCL said in a filing to the BSE.

The MoU, which will be executed in due course, is aimed at leveraging EIL’s engineering and consultancy capabilities to support HCL’s plans to expand and modernise its copper mining and processing operations.

The collaboration is significant against the backdrop of India’s push to bolster domestic metal production and secure critical mineral supply chains.

HCL -- the country’s only vertically integrated copper producer -- has been pursuing capacity expansion and technology upgrades to meet rising demand from power, construction and the electric vehicle sectors.

Published on May 29, 2026