India's Core Industries
Aluminium and Copper: Metals for the Future
How India's aluminium and copper industries work, why these metals matter for electrification, and the environmental controversies they raise.
Aluminium and copper are essential for power lines, vehicles, electronics, buildings and renewable energy.
Aluminium
- India is among the world’s largest aluminium producers, led by Hindalco (Aditya Birla), Vedanta and public sector NALCO.
- India has large bauxite reserves, especially in Odisha.
- Aluminium smelting uses huge amounts of electricity, mostly from coal in India, making it carbon-intensive.
Copper
- India produces refined copper but imports much of its copper concentrate, since domestic copper ore reserves are limited.
- Hindalco and Hindustan Copper are key producers. Adani opened a large copper smelter in Gujarat in 2024.
The Sterlite closure
In 2018, Vedanta’s Sterlite copper smelter in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu, was shut after protests over pollution turned violent, with police firing that killed 13 people. The closure turned India from a copper exporter into an importer of refined copper for some years.
Energy transition demand
- Copper: electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar farms and power grids use much more copper than conventional systems.
- Aluminium: lightweight vehicles and power cables.
Global demand for these metals is expected to grow strongly.
Challenges
- Energy and emissions.
- Environmental impacts of mining and smelting.
- Community relations and land.
As India adds solar and wind capacity, it needs thousands of kilometres of new transmission lines, requiring large amounts of aluminium and copper. Metal producers expand capacity to meet demand.
Clean energy systems need more copper and aluminium than fossil systems.
- India is a major aluminium producer with large bauxite reserves.
- It imports much of its copper concentrate.
- The 2018 Sterlite closure turned India into a copper importer for a time.
- Electrification drives rising demand for both metals.
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