On Thursday, Kutch Copper, an Adani Enterprises affiliate, sent out the first batch of cathodes to clients, therefore commissioning the first unit of its greenfield copper refinery project in Mundra.

This is the first time the metal sector has seen the Adani Portfolio. For the first phase of the project, the group is investing close to $1.2 billion to build a copper smelter with a capacity of 0.5 MTPA. After the second phase, which will add equivalent capacity, is finished, Kutch Copper, with 1 MTPA, will be the largest custom smelter in the world at a single location. It will use digitalization and cutting-edge technology to benchmark ESG performance norms.

There will be 5,000 indirect and 2,000 direct job possibilities as a result.

"With Kutch Copper starting operations, the Adani portfolio of companies is propelling India's leap towards a sustainable and aatmanirbhar (self-reliant) future,” stated Gautam Adani. The Adani portfolio of companies is also entering the metals sector.

As part of its forward integration strategy, Kutch Copper is aiming to establish Kutch Copper Tubes Limited in order to expand its copper tube portfolio. The tubes will serve refrigeration and air conditioning applications.

India is quickly increasing its production of copper, a metal that is considered essential to the global transition away from fossil fuels, along with China and other countries. Profitability is being negatively impacted by the rapid expansion; in 2024, Chinese smelters' yearly fees will decrease for the first time in three years as their capacity exceeds the availability of ore.

According to Soni Kumari, an ANZ Banking Group commodity strategist, India's imports of copper concentrate might increase from the 1.3 million tons predicted for this year to as much as 2 million tons in 2024. She stated that "because of expanding smelting capacity in China and India," the market will be significantly more competitive in 2025.

Over 90% of India's mineral needs are imported, primarily from South America. According to Jayanta Roy, senior vice president at ICRA, a division of Moody's Investors Service, the Adani smelter could take in up to 1 million tons of foreign copper concentrate in its first year of operation. Roy made this revelation to Bloomberg. Under ideal circumstances, he claimed, India's total imports might reach 2.6 million tons.