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India's new copper entrant, Adani Enterprises, starts operations at Kutch

Adani's Kutch Copper on Thursday announced the start of operations at its Mundra unit with its first dispatch of copper cathodes

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Amritha Pillay Mumbai

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Coal to airports conglomerate Adani Group on Thursday marked its entry into India’s metals sector, with the start of operations at its first copper facility at Mundra in Gujarat.

Adani Enterprises, which houses the copper business, looks to rival KM Birla promoted Hindalco Industries, with a capacity of 0.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in the first phase.

Hindalco Industries is currently the only major copper producer in India, post the closure of Vedanta’s Sterlite Copper unit’s 400 kilo tonnes per annum (KTPA) capacity in Tamil Nadu. Adani’s initial production capacity of 0.5 MT, can help bridge this gap in domestic production.
 

In the December 2023 ended quarter, according to industry numbers, India’s copper production was at 133 KT and the country imported another 64 KT.

On Thursday, Adani Enterprises announced it commissioned the first unit of its greenfield copper refinery project at Mundra by dispatching the maiden batch of cathodes to customers.

The company said it is setting up a plant of one MTPA capacity in two phases, with close to $1.2 billion to be invested in the first phase. The business is named Kutch Copper and operates as a subsidiary of Adani Enterprises.

Gautam Adani’s group so far has presence across power, ports, airports, data centres, food, coal mining, roads, city-gas and cement. Many of these businesses were first incubated under the listed entity Adani Enterprises.

The company on Thursday said commissioning of the copper unit marks the Adani portfolio’s debut in the metal industry.

“With Kutch Copper commencing operations, the Adani portfolio of companies is not only entering the metals sector but also driving India’s leap towards a sustainable and ‘aatmanirbhar’ (self-reliant) future,” said Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani Group.

On completion of the second phase of capacity at Kutch Copper, with 1 MTPA, the company said, it will be the world’s largest single-location custom smelter.

At present, Hindalco Industries claims to operate one of the largest custom copper smelters at a single location in Asia, which is also in Gujarat and at 0.5 MTPA capacity.

By 2033, India’s annual copper consumption is expected to double to 2 million tonnes, as per industry estimates.

Further, Adani Enterprises said, Kutch Copper is working towards establishing Kutch Copper Tubes Limited as part of its forward integration strategy to add copper tubes to its portfolio. The tubes will cater to applications in air conditioning and refrigeration, the statement added.

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First Published: Mar 28 2024 | 9:59 PM IST

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