Adani Group announced the inauguration of its maiden copper plant in Mundra, Gujarat. Adani Enterprises Limited copper business subsidiary, Kutch Copper Limited has set up the greenfield copper refinery project for production of refined copper with a capacity of one million tonne per annum in two phases (MPTA)
The first phase of the project will be of 0.5 MTPA. An investment of close to $1.2 billion would be injected into the first phase of the project. This significant venture marks the Adani groups debut into metal industry.
Gautam Adani, the CEO of the Adani Group expressed his enthusiasm stating “With Kutch Copper commencing its operations, the Adani portfolio of companies is not only entering the metals sector but also driving India’s leap towards sustainable and self-reliant future. He further emphasised the groups commitment to positioning India at the fore front of the global copper sector and achieving carbon neutrality by 2070.
Adani highlighted the pivotal role of the domestic copper industry in achieving this goal. Stressing the importance of green infrastructure and environmental stewardship. Adani affirmed, “When commissioned, our modern smelter will set new benchmarks in coper production with an enhanced thrust on innovative green technology.
Earlier in June 2022, the KCL had achieved financial closure for the first phase by executing a financing document with a consortium of banks led by thr State Bank of India (SBI) for the syndicated club loan. The consortium of banks, including the bank of Baroda, Canara bank EXIM bank of India Indian Bank, Punjab National Bank and Bank of Maharashtra has sanctioned thr entire debt requirement of Rs 6071 crore for phase-1 of the KCL project.
The Rs 8,783 crore green project with the equity investment by the parent Adani Enterprises Limited and the has got all the major approvals in place to ensure timely execution.
Copper is the third largest most used industrial metal after steel and aluminium. The demand of copper is expected to surge driven by various structures such as renewable energy electric vehicles, charging infrastructure and power transmission along with distribution networks.
The government’s emphasis on infrastructure development, combined with the robust resurgence in economic activities across various sectors such as real estate, consumer durables and electric vehicle manufacturing has significantly boosted the demand for the red metal. India used to be net exporter of copper until FY 2018 when the Tamil Nadu based Vedanta owned Sterlite Copper was shut down and since then, the country has become a importer of copper for the fifth year in a row.
The country’s copper import in FY 21 and FY22 stood at 238,483 tonne and 238, 694 tonnes respectively. However, the copper imports of the 275, 341 tonnes in FY23 were still lower than the pre-Covid high of 357, 423 tonnes recorded in FY 20.
The strategically located Adani’s copper plant at Mundra on the werst coast has the potential to alleviate India supply concerns and comes closely on the heels of the Vedanta’s effort to restart its Thoothukudi plant. Vedanta owned Sterlite Copper in June 2023 has come out with a fresh expression of interest for supply of raw materials as part of its preparatory measures to restart production at Tamil Nadu.
Sources said the location of the Mundra provides the additional advantage of access to lower cost and uninterrupted energy supply and logistical infrastructure to cater to domestic needs and international demand.
On the operational front, the company is engaged in long term supply agreements for the key raw material copper concentrate. This along with the strategic location and integrated value chain advantage will help Kutch Copper to be one of the most sustainable and lowest cost copper producers in the world.
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