Hindalco Industries managing director Satish Pai announced that Novelis, the company's US aluminum and copper venture, is planning to restart operations at its Oswego plant in New York state by next week. The plant, a key supplier to the US auto sector, was put out of action by two fires in 2025 that impacted cash flows by $1.7 billion. The fires affected the plant's hot mill, finishing lines and other parts, with the company meeting repair costs through insurance claims while Hindalco invested around $1 billion in Novelis to support restoration and other projects. Pai emphasized that the restoration of supplies from Oswego will provide confidence to customers, with firms like Ford Motor Company experiencing supply bottlenecks during the plant's damage and restoration phase.
India could eliminate its dependence on imported refined copper within the next two years, according to Hindalco Industries managing director Satish Pai. Speaking during a media interaction following the company's FY26 earnings announcement, Pai stated that 'Within the next two years, India will not be dependent on imported copper going forward', representing an accelerated timeline from earlier projections. The statement comes at a critical time as Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this month raised concerns over rising copper imports, with India's copper import bill rising from ₹22,856 crore in FY17 to ₹1.03 trillion in FY26 until February, marking an increase of more than 350 per cent in less than a decade.
The transformation is being driven by multiple aggressive expansion initiatives, including the commissioning of a new copper smelter by the Adani Group in Gujarat, which is expected to significantly boost domestic production. Hindalco is ramping up its capabilities through a 50-kilotonne copper recycling plant and expanding smelting operations through its Copper-5 project, a brownfield expansion initiative in Gujarat for copper cathode production, for which the company recently completed the public hearing process. In FY26, Hindalco's copper sales stood at 487,000 tonnes, while Adani's Kutch Copper reported sales of 113,600 tonnes in FY25 against an installed capacity of 500,000 tonnes.
India's copper sector has been structurally dependent on imports since the closure of smelter operations at Vedanta-owned Sterlite Copper plant in Tuticorin in 2018, which turned the country from a net exporter into a net importer. According to BigMint, India's refined copper consumption is currently estimated at around 1.7 million tonnes, while effective domestic refined copper production capacity from major primary producers stands at nearly 1.2 million tonnes. India's copper concentrate imports rose to 1.18 million tonnes in FY25 from 1.02 million tonnes in FY24, as reported by BigMint. However, Pai noted that while India remains dependent on imports of copper ore, exploration in the company's allocated blocks in central India have been encouraging and supply from those mines will help reduce import dependence to some extent.
While India may become self-sufficient in refined copper, the country will continue to rely on imported copper concentrate, the key smelting raw material, which is processed into refined copper. However, Hindalco is making significant progress in securing domestic copper ore supplies through its exploration efforts. The company's domestic copper exploration efforts in the Minzari copper block in Maharashtra have shown 'encouraging signs', marking one of the clearest indications yet of the company's intent to secure long-term copper ore supplies within India. The company acquired the block through auction in 2023 and is participating in additional exploration licence auctions for domestic copper ore blocks. Pai revealed that at the first copper exploration block, the company has been drilling exploratory holes and has found a lot of encouraging signs, with hopes that after five years they should get at least 20-25 percent of requirements domestically.
Despite global copper smelting economics remaining under severe pressure due to sharply lower treatment and refining charges, Hindalco's copper business reported record quarterly Ebitda of ₹907 crore in Q4 FY26, up 48 per cent year-on-year, though full-year Ebitda declined 7 per cent to ₹2,809 crore. Pai expressed optimism about future performance, stating the company is 'confident that we will generate ₹600-700 crore per quarter of copper Ebitda in FY27'. The company has secured long-term copper concentrate contracts for the next five years and aims to increase domestic ore sourcing to 20-25 per cent of requirements within five years, up from around 10 per cent currently sourced through Hindustan Copper mines. Additionally, owing to strong demand for sulphuric acid, a key input in the refining process of copper, Pai aims at generating EBITDA of around ₹600-700 crore per quarter from the copper segment.
