New Delhi A parliamentary panel has flagged the need to encourage domestic capacity addition of the critical copper metal to achieve India’s net zero target by 2070 as a critical component of electric vehicles.
“Given that the targeted per capita consumption in India is expected to increase from the current level of 0.6 kg to one kg in the coming years, the Committee feels that the Ministry of Mines should work closely with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Commerce. To give more impetus to domestic copper industries so that more and more capacity addition projects can be commissioned under ‘Make in India’ campaign.
The Committee on Coal, Mines and Steel, headed by BJP MP Rakesh Singh, said the average global per capita consumption of the metal at present is around 3.2 kg. The total consumption of refined copper in India in 2020 was around 660,000 tonnes. Incidentally, copper production in the country has been declining since Sterlite’s 400,000 tonnes per annum smelter in Tamil Nadu stopped production in May 2008. As a result, India became a net importer. of metal
According to the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), in 2017-18, India was a net exporter of refined copper, with 381,000 tonnes of exports and 47,000 tonnes of imports. The reverse happened the next year when its imports were 96,000 tonnes and exports were 50,000 tonnes. The trend continues till date. The increasing reliance on imports is also a drain on India’s foreign exchange reserves and stoking inflation.
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