India's Copper Reservoir: A Hidden Asset Waiting to be Tapped

India has an enormous amount of non-virgin copper sitting inside products. As of FY21, the country had ~15 million tonnes of copper actively in use, embedded in power grids, vehicles, ACs, computers and telecom cables.

The country's copper demand soared to 1.88 million tonnes in FY25, up 9.3% from FY24. Of this, secondary copper accounted for 42%, up from 38% the previous year. This secondary copper can provide a much-needed cushion for India's costly imports, as the country currently imports over 90% of its concentrate requirements.

However, India severely lacks advanced secondary refining capacity to upgrade complex, contaminated e-waste into high-purity metal, limiting how much of this urban mine can be offset against expensive imports. New mines take a decade or more to develop, and India produces very little copper ore domestically.