Copper in India

Subject: Geography

Section: Economic Geography

In India, refined copper production has been gradually
From a high of 799,000 tonnes in 2016-17, output has gradually fallen to 364,000 tonnes in 2020-21, as per government data. Worse, from being the net exporter (333,000 tonnes) in 2017-18, we have slipped to become a net importer of copper (-31,000 tonnes) in 2020-21.
One critical reason for this serious slippage is that the Sterlite copper smelting plant in Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu) with production capacity of 400,000 tonnes a year has remained closed for the last four years

Why copper is important?

Copper, a key industrial metal, is the metal for electrification. It is used in