Adani to Start Operations at India's Largest Copper Smelter Within a Month

Adani Enterprises is gearing up to start operations at its Kutch Copper smelter within the next four weeks. This facility, located in Mundra, Gujarat, is set to be India’s largest copper smelter, refining copper concentrate as part of its first phase. The commissioning process began a month ago, with the production of the first anodes already underway.

At a conference hosted by the International Copper Association in Santiago, Chile, Felipe Williams Ossa, Head of Metals at Adani Enterprises, said, "In the next four weeks, we're starting the largest metallurgical complex of copper and other metals in the world."

The smelter comes at a time when Asian smelters are facing losses due to tight copper supply and negative treatment and refining charges (TC/RCs), which are key revenue sources for smelters. Despite these challenges, Adani sees this as a long-term opportunity to meet India's growing copper demand, especially as the country pushes for industrial expansion and clean energy initiatives.

Once fully operational, the 500,000-tonne unit will be expanded to one million tonnes, with an estimated investment of $700-800 million, bringing the total cost of the facility to around $2 billiom. Around 40% of the copper produced will be used within the Adani Group, primarily for its renewable energy and transmission sectors, as well as its new wires and cables business.

This move is expected to significantly reduce India's copper imports, strengthening the country’s position in the global copper market.