India will require roughly 500,000 tonnes of additional refined copper capacity every five years to keep pace with rising demand of the metal, International Copper Association India (ICA India) Managing Director Mayur Karmarkar said on Sunday.
Speaking on the outlook for the ongoing financial year, Karmarkar said copper demand is likely to track overall GDP growth and the association is anticipating at least around 9 per cent growth over 2026.
On the supply side, restarting secondary smelter of Hindustan Copper and new secondary smelter of Hindalco will add capacity of 100,000 tonnes but that is small against the total demand of about 1.8 million tonnes, Karmarkar said.
“It will help a bit, but the scale is relatively small,” he added.
Karmarkar said domestic cathode availability will further improve as smelter-refinery capacities expand. “Hindalco is putting up an expansion plant, and Kutch Copper’s capacity is also coming on stream. These projects will make more cathode available in the country for domestic conversion,” he noted.
Despite these investments, he warned that domestic refined copper production will remain insufficient.
“If you really see the demand trajectory versus supply in the long term, will require almost like another 500,000 tonnes capacity every five years to meet the growing demand,” he said.
He added that under the current growth scenario, supply will need to chase demand, underscoring the urgency for further capacity additions and investment in refining and smelting facilities.
India’s copper demand grew 9.3 per cent to 1,878 kilo tonnes (KT) in FY25 as compared to 1,718 kilo tonnes in FY24 due to robust economic progress and increasing adoption of the metal across critical sectors, annual demand data of International Copper Association India had earlier said.
India’s continued emphasis on large-scale infrastructure projects, building construction, clean energy transition and emerging technologies has accelerated demand for key industrial materials, with copper emerging as a critical enabler across these sectors, the annual data anaylsis said.
The building construction and infrastructure segments remained primary growth drivers registering 11 per cent and 17 per cent year-on-year growth, respectively.
The renewable energy sector achieved one of the highest annual capacity additions in FY25, while the consumer durables sector saw a double-digit per cent increase, driven by strong sales of air conditioners, fans, refrigerators and washing machines.