Hindalco Industries, a part of the Aditya Birla Group, and JSW Steel, led by Sajjan Jindal, are vying for two copper mines in Jharkhand that are set to be auctioned this month, according to sources.
The two mines, owned by Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL), have a combined capacity of three million tonnes per annum. One of the mines is a virgin block, while the other has been closed for the past 20 years.
The auction, expected to take place in October, is part of HCL’s efforts to reopen and expand the Rakha Copper Mine and develop underground operations at the Chapri mine.
The Rakha mine’s lease expired in 2021, and an extension is being processed with the Jharkhand government. The application for stage-one forest clearance has been accepted, and a site inspection by state forest authorities has been completed.
Hindustan Copper’s ongoing expansion projects aim to increase its mining capacity to 12.2 million tonnes per annum, said CMD Ghanshyam Sharma. The move is expected to boost domestic copper production and reduce reliance on imports.
In the last fiscal year, HCL’s ore production rose by 13%, reaching 3.78 million tonnes in FY24, up from 3.35 million tonnes in FY23. The company is also developing an underground mine at its Malanjkhand Copper Project (MCP), which will increase its capacity from 2.5 million tonnes per annum to 5 million tonnes.
Hindustan Copper, under the mines ministry, is India’s only integrated producer of refined copper, handling operations from mining to refining.
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