New Delhi: Dr VK Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog, while stating that India is not self-sufficient in the production of copper ore, has said that in the current paradigm of copper production, we cannot wish away the copper recycling strategy as recycling requires 85 per cent less energy. “Recycling should be done as the rate of recycling is very low. We need to do backward integration in the area of copper recycling,” he added.
He further said that there should be standards from the raw material stage up to finished products to maintain quality and safety of refined copper. Dr Saraswat was addressing the seminar on ‘Copper Industry Convention: Vision 2030 and 2047’ organized by FICCI. He said that the recycling industry has to have a major quality standard, and this comes from the quality of scrap used.
Dr Srikar K Reddy, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said that India has now emerged as a trusted partner in the global supply chain. “We are concluding FTA with countries exhibiting complementarities especially with the developed countries. We have concluded FTA with UAE in record 3 months and businesses on both sides are benefiting from it,” he added.
Sameer Patil, Deputy Commissioner – Tax Research Unit, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs, Ministry of Finance, said that margins and scale are two important components for any industry. For companies engaged in commodities business then we can look at working on a large scale with reduced margins which can be passed on to the domestic downstream industries.
Sanjeev Verma, Director, Ministry of Mines Ministry, said that copper industry has a lot of significance in the Indian economy and has diversified application across many sectors. “Copper industry forms an integral part of our economic growth supporting the mission of Atma Nirbhar Bharat and US$ 5 trillion economy,” he added. Verma also stated that under the circular economy, the ministry is working on zero waste management of non-ferrous metals with NITI Aayog.
Rohit Pathak, Chief Executive Office, Hindalco Industries, Birla Copper, said that copper is a key element for transition to green and clean India. A four-pronged effort is required to scale up the Indian Copper industry, he added. Pathak further shared that there are four key areas which need attention for the holistic growth of the Indian Copper Industry. India needs to secure supply of copper concentrate for scaling Indian production to meet India's future demand.
Downstream manufacturer Milan Mehta highlighted the growing use of winding wires across various sectors like automobiles, construction, transmission, etc. He stated that while the production stands at 4,20,000 tonnes per annum, the capacity utilization has only been at 60 per cent countrywide. As there would be a growth in demand for winding wires due to investment trends in generation and transmission, de-carbonization goals, EVs, demand for white goods consumer durables, and greater power consumption, winding wires industry can grow by 7.5-8 per cent per annum in the next decade and grow up to 1.8-2 MT by 2047. /BI/
