Copper majors Sterlite Industries, Indo Gulf Industries and SWIL Ltd have come together to promote copper consumption in the country through increased use of the metal in new areas such as motors, house-wiring, electricity transformers and plumbing.
Sources said the three companies have set up the International Copper Promotion Council, India, (ICPCI), the Indian arm of International Copper Association, New York. ICPCI will have a foreign equity component of 70 per cent, amounting to a nominal value of Rs 7 lakh from five investors - International Copper Association, BHP Minerals Asia, Outokumpu (SEA), P T Freeport Indonesia Company and Rio Tinto.
The balance 30 per cent will be shared by Sterlite, SWIL and Indo-Gulf.
The copper market is already under pressure globally, due to excess supply and low price on the London Metal Exchange. In India too, the impact is expected to be felt within the next two years.
As against the world copper demand of three per cent, the annual demand in the country is estimated to be around 8-10 per cent. A large part of the demand in the domestic market comes from the telecommunications and electrical sectors.
Tarun Grover, chief executive officer, ICPCI, said the demand slump for copper has led to producers to search for newer applications of the metal and Indian industry need to gear up for the emerging scenario.
ICPCI's role, therefore, will be to promote diversification of copper into new fields. The council will promote beneficial use of copper in energy-efficient motors and distribution transformers. The organisation will also implement programmes and initiate and fund copper technology research and market development.
Grover said ICPCI will aim at increasing consumption of the metal in house-wiring by 10 per cent and in plumbing to 3.5 per cent from 1.4 per cent by advocating its merits as an alternative to galvanised iron and plastic pipes.
"A few years ago, copper was the main metal for house-wiring, plumbing and piping," Grover said, adding that ,while copper has been replaced by other metals in certain countries, in India, it still continues to dominate some of the segments on account of its reliability (anti-corrosive) and high tensile strength.
"We are planning to tie-up with housing finance companies to promote plumbing and house-wiring," Grover added.
This apart, ICPCI will also work with state governments including Delhi, Rajasthan and Karnataka to adopt total ownership cost (TOC) tenders. for state electricity boards (SEBs). "All these states have agreed on this networking with institutions such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank."
