The Indian conglomerate is investing approximately $1.2bn in the greenfield copper smelter in Gujarat, which will eventually have a capacity of 1MTPA to potentially make it the largest single-location custom smelter in the world
Adani Enterprises’ subsidiary Kutch Copper begins operations at the first unit of its greenfield copper refinery project at Mundra, Gujarat. (Credit: Alexa from Pixabay)
Adani Enterprises’ subsidiary Kutch Copper has begun operations at the first unit of its greenfield copper refinery project at Mundra in the Indian state of Gujarat.
By shipping the first batch of cathodes to customers, the Adani group has made its debut in the metal industry.
Adani Enterprises is investing approximately $1.2bn to establish the copper smelter, which will have a capacity of 0.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in the first phase.
The second phase of the greenfield copper refinery project at Mundra is expected to bring an additional capacity of 0.5MTPA.
According to Adani Enterprises, the completion of the second phase will make the facility the largest single-location custom smelter in the world.
The Indian greenfield copper refinery project is anticipated to generate 2,000 direct and 5,000 indirect employment opportunities.
Adani Enterprises said that one-third of the plant area has been allocated as green belt space. Besides, 15% of the capital has been allocated towards environmental protection.
Furthermore, the Mundra copper unit plant deployed a zero-liquid discharge model to mitigate the ecological impact. The plant also leverages desalinated water for operations, and to reduce waste, it recycles treated wastewater within processes.
Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani said: “With Kutch Copper commencing operations, the Adani portfolio of companies is not only entering the metals sector but also driving India’s leap towards a sustainable and aatmanirbhar (self-reliant) future.”
“Our speed of execution in this ambitious, super-sized project underscores our commitment to take India to the forefront of the global copper sector.
“We believe the domestic copper industry will play a crucial role in achieving our nation’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2070 by strengthening our green infrastructure hand in hand with mature environmental stewardship.”
Last month, Adani signed contracts to purchase 1.6MTPA of copper concentrate for the Mundra copper smelter.