Gautam Adani, the famous billionaire industrialist and chairperson of the Adani group, has implanted the copper-producing factory at Mundra, in Gujarat, which is expected to start its operations tentatively from March 2024.
INTRODUCTION
Kutch Copper Limited (KCL), the subsidiary unit of the parent company, Adani Enterprises Ltd. (AEL), is all set for a greenfield copper refinery project for the production of refined copper. It is building an integrated copper smelting and refinery complex, with annual capacity of 0.5 million tones of copper per annum The project will be a great alleviation to cut India’s dependence on imports as well as act as an aid in the energy transition.
IDEOLOGY OF COPPER PRODUCTION
Copper is known as an ideal metal for electrification. The red metal is the third most used material in the industries after steel and aluminium. Besides, the perspective and ideology of future development, such technologies, including, the charging infrastructure, electrical vehicles (EV), solar photovoltaics, and batteries, that are expected to bring in environment-friendly development and outcome to the nation in the near future, all require the use of copper.
The Adani group promises that it is likely to be the largest copper refinery in the complexes in the world, with benchmark and ESG performance standards, leveraging state-of-the-art technology and digitalisation as per the statement made by Prakash.
BREAKDOWN OF CREDIT WORTH OF THE COPPER PROJECT
The project is to be worked up in two phases, with the production of refined copper of 1 million tonnes per annum. For phase-1, the capacity has been affirmed to 0.5 million tonnes per annum, and as per the sources, KCL has achieved financial closure through a syndicated club loan.
Phase 1 is expected to commence operations at the end of the current fiscal year.
Earlier, on May 13, Adani Enterprises and Adani Transmission, the two companies categorised under Adani Group, had received the approval of the board to raise Rs 12,500 crore and Rs 8,500 crore, respectively.
Bank of Baroda, Canara Bank, EXIM Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, Indian Bank, and Bank of Maharashtra which are all included under the consortium of banks, led by SBI, passed the sanction of the requirement of Rs 6071 crore debt for the KCL project, phase-1.
The equity of the project has been invested by the parent company, Adani Enterprises. Moreover, it has managed to get all the major approvals for the execution of the project.
WHAT CHANGE WILL INDIA SEE THROUGH THE GUJARAT COPPER PROJECT
- India’s production has been unable to meet the industrial demand, increasing the dependence on copper imports. Additionally, India’s imports have been consistently rising for the past 5 years. The greenfield project is expected to improve the situation and reduce dependence on imports.
- India has seen tremendous consumption of copper, as the estimated figures suggest, with an import record of 1.81.100 tonnes of copper between the period of April 2022 to March 2024 and a consumption record of 7,50,000 tonnes of copper in the same period. Adani group, with a growth in the renewable portfolio, will bring significant improvement in meeting the demands and consumption of copper.
- The project effectively supports the government scheme of “Make in India”, a step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat.
- Besides, the location of the project will strategically help them in efficient production, with lower cost and uninterrupted energy supply, as well as a step toward Sustainable Development, and encourage a shift to renewable sources of energy.
