OPINION | Unlocking India’s copper potential through investment and green growth

Copper is becoming indispensable to India's economic future. Power transmission, renewable energy, electric mobility, electronics, data centres, railways and manufacturing are driving consumption, while green hydrogen will add another significant source of demand as electrolyser manufacturing and renewable infrastructure scale up.

The government's Copper Vision Document anticipates a six-fold increase in copper demand by 2047 and calls for an additional 5 million tonnes per annum of smelting and refining capacity by 2030. But expanding capacity alone will not address India's larger challenge: ensuring reliable access to the raw materials needed to sustain this growth. The vulnerability is already evident. India produces around 573,000 tonnes annually against demand of approximately 1.8 million tonnes and imports more than 90 per cent of its copper concentrate requirements. This dependence on external sources could deepen as domestic consumption rises.

Trade data underscores the scale of this exposure. India's copper imports rose from ₹22,856 crore in FY17 to ₹1.03 trillion in FY26 till February, marking a rise of more than 350 per cent in less than a decade. The challenge, therefore, is not simply to produce more copper. India needs copper resource security. As the country's energy transition, industrial growth and digital economy become increasingly dependent on this metal, securing access to primary and secondary sources of copper must become a strategic priority.

From resources to reserves

India has significant copper resources, but only a small proportion has been converted into economically mineable reserves. According to Indian Bureau of Mines data as of April 1, 2025, India had around 1,900 million tonnes of copper ore containing approximately 14 million tonnes of copper metal. Yet reserves stood at only around 146 million tonnes of ore, containing approximately 1.9 million tonnes of copper metal. In effect, only around 8 per cent of India's identified copper resources have been converted into reserves.

That gap should concern policymakers. Identifying a mineral resource is only the beginning. It must be explored, assessed and established as economically viable before it can contribute to the country's raw material security. Enhanced exploration must therefore become the first pillar of India's copper strategy. The country cannot build long-term resilience merely by knowing what lies beneath its soil.

A strategic resource for a strategic economy

Copper's importance now extends far beyond traditional industry. It is fundamental to electricity networks, renewable energy, electric vehicles, telecommunications, electronics, data centres and strategic infrastructure. India's transition towards a more electrified, digital and low-carbon economy will depend heavily on reliable access to the metal. Copper can no longer be viewed simply as another industrial commodity. It is an enabling resource for India's energy transition, manufacturing ambitions and digital economy.

Its strategic importance demands a coordinated approach to domestic exploration, overseas resource acquisition, processing capacity and supply-chain resilience. The Copper Vision provides the roadmap. The task now is to translate that vision into a comprehensive strategy for copper resource security.

Recycling is the second pillar of resource security

Domestic mining alone cannot solve India's copper challenge. The country must also recover more of the metal already circulating through its economy. Copper can be recycled repeatedly without losing its fundamental properties, making secondary supply an important complement to primary production. Recycling, therefore, is no longer simply an environmental objective; it is increasingly a matter of resource security.

Countries that have traditionally exported metal scrap are increasingly retaining these materials for domestic recycling and manufacturing. As secondary raw materials become more strategically valuable, access to globally traded copper scrap could become more constrained. India cannot assume that imported scrap will always remain readily available. It needs a conducive framework for efficient and sustainable recycling, supported by stronger collection networks, modern processing facilities, improved segregation and robust quality and traceability standards.

Copper recovered from electronics, electrical equipment, vehicles, industrial machinery and ageing infrastructure could become an increasingly valuable domestic feedstock stream. A stronger recycling ecosystem would complement primary production, reduce pressure on virgin resources and retain valuable material within India.

Tamil Nadu can lead India on copper circularity

Tamil Nadu is particularly well positioned to demonstrate what a copper circularity ecosystem could look like. Few states combine a large manufacturing base, a major electronics ecosystem, established engineering capabilities and extensive port connectivity at such scale.

These advantages create both a substantial pool of copper-bearing material and the industrial ecosystem required to process and reuse it. The state's manufacturing clusters can generate concentrated streams of material from electronics and industrial activity, while its ports strengthen connections with domestic and global supply chains.

Tamil Nadu also has an existing recycling base. The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board data identify 10 authorised facilities for recycling copper-bearing waste, with a combined authorised capacity of 48,780 tonnes per annum. Its Circular Economy Investment Policy 2026 provides an additional platform for investment in recycling industries.

The opportunity now is to connect these capabilities through copper-circularity clusters linking manufacturers, scrap generators, collection networks, recyclers, refiners and downstream users. This will require both investment and regulatory predictability. The lesson from Thoothukudi is not that environmental standards should be diluted. It is that they must be rigorous, transparent and consistently enforced, giving communities confidence while providing responsible industry clarity on how to comply and invest.

India's copper strategy must therefore extend beyond adding refining capacity. It must build a resilient ecosystem connecting exploration, mining, overseas resource access, primary production and recycling.

The next phase of India's copper story will not be decided only by how much metal it can produce, but by how effectively it secures the resources behind that production and keeps more copper circulating within its own economy. For a country building its future around electrification, clean energy and advanced manufacturing, copper resource security may soon become as important as copper demand.

The author is director, India Foundation.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of THE WEEK.