New Delhi: India remains a net importer of copper despite having significant reserves due to low exploration success, outdated technologies, insufficient investment and limited private sector participation, a Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) report says.
“India is import-reliant for more than 50 percent of its copper needs. Given the rising copper demand across the world and India’s growing copper needs, India must explore and extract more copper, as large resources and reserves lie unexplored and hence not mined,” says the report, ‘The Copper Report: Navigating Through the Demand and Supply Gap,’ released Wednesday.
Copper is critically important due to its application in energy transition (solar, wind, etc), infrastructure development, advanced manufacturing and electric vehicles (EVs). For instance, a four-wheeled passenger EV requires 40 kg to 80 kg of copper while each charger requires 0.7 kg to 8 kg of copper, says International Copper Association (ICA).
Domestic demand in India’s conventional sector is projected to reach 3.24 million tonnes by FY 2030, up from around 1.6 million tonnes in FY 2024, according to International Copper Association India (ICAI). The demand for copper in energy transition sectors like solar, wind and EV is projected to reach 274 thousand tonnes by FY 2030.
With none of the copper blocks auctioned since 2015 progressing towards extraction, there is a need to streamline the procedure from auctioning to granting clearances to commencing mining operation, the CSEP states. “The mining clearances should be combined into a one-stop shop for post-lease clearances in India.”
The report has recommended policy reforms to attract investment in exploration and mining activities, with just 1 percent of global budget spending on exploration coming from India.
In its recommendations, the think tank says the National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) should provide more than its present 5 percent of its allocation of funds to private explorers. There is a need for more private sector participation that has the potential to invest huge amounts of capital, it adds.
Established in 2015, the NMET’s mandate is to accelerate mineral exploration in the country. At present, it receives 2 percent of the royalty from mining leaseholders who are beneficiaries of exploration activities funded by NMET.
The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2025—passed in August—have expanded the scope of the trust for exploration and development in offshore areas and outside India. It also renames the Trust as the National Mineral Exploration and Development Trust.
To enable downstream companies procure copper scraps easily, the report emphasises the need to formalise recycling infrastructure in India from scrap collection to processing. Currently, it remains underdeveloped and highly fragmented.
“It is important to develop a robust domestic secondary copper market by facilitating direct linkages between scrap vendors, recyclers, and copper processors,” it states.
Tanima Pal, co-author and research associate for the study, told ThePrint that the Indian copper sector stands at a crossroads.
“It calls for holistic attention throughout the supply chain from exploration to end-use and recycling. While policy reforms need to address upstream and midstream policy gaps, the new industry entrants need to boost the domestic production capacity by expanding new market frontiers,” she said.
India’s total copper resources stand at 1,660.87 million tonnes according to Indian Bureau of Mines, while reserves are at 163.83 million tonnes.
To the uninitiated, reserves is the economically mineable part of a measured and/or indicated mineral resource, whereas resources are not essentially economically mineable. Further, mineral reserves are usually based on detailed exploration, engineering and economic feasibility studies.
From the remaining 1,497 million tonne resources, 153 million tonnes are classified as pre-feasibility resources—a portion of the mineral resource that is not economical—could become viable with technological, environmental, and economic changes, the report mentions.
India, according to the report, has 8.28 million tonnes of ore that contain a high-grade copper content of 1.85 percent or more. But it remains largely untapped and requires cutting-edge exploration techniques.
At current production rate, India’s known copper reserves are expected to last for around 44 years, thereby highlighting the need for alternative supply sources and leveraging recycling potential existing reserves.
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Global trade restrictions
The copper landscape is concentrated in Chile, Peru and Republic of Congo together occupying 46 percent share in global production. China alone is dominating with 44 percent of copper processing capacity.
According to the report, the countries are now leveraging their natural resources to augment national economies. China has imposed restrictions on export of critical minerals including copper, but it might have limited impact on India which is less dependent on the neighbour for copper.
But Indonesia’s plan to ban export of copper concentrates to promote its domestic processing industries may impact India, as it is a major supplier with 32 percent share in FY 2024.
However, with India diversifying in the last four years to suppliers like Peru, Australia, Panama Republic and Saudi Arabia, it may be able to overcome the impact.
“Between 2020 and 2022, over 20 percent of global exports of key raw materials, such as copper ore, faced at least one export restriction,” the report states.
The demand for copper will reach about 50 million tonnes by 2050, while current global refined copper production stands at approximately 26.5 million tonnes, annually, according to the ICA.
Globally, there can be a possibility of supply-demand imbalance unless there is a considerable increase in production capacity or technological advancements, it adds.
This is an updated version of the report
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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