Beyond Vedanta: The Companies Racing to Secure India’s EV & Solar Metal Supply

Mumbai, Sept 6: India’s push into rare earths, copper, and silver — the metals underpinning EVs, solar panels, wind turbines, and electronics — has drawn in a mix of private conglomerates and state-run miners. Here are the other major players besides Vedanta, and what they’re doing about it.

Hindalco Industries (Aditya Birla Group)

• One of India’s largest alumina and copper producers, positioning itself as a key buyer in the domestic copper supply chain.
• Hindalco Industries was among the companies that showed interest in developing Hindustan Copper’s two Jharkhand copper mines, with a combined 3 million tonnes-per-annum capacity.
• In talks to receive copper concentrate sourced from Codelco’s Chilean mines via a planned Hindustan Copper joint venture.
• Exploring investments in Peru’s copper sector alongside Adani, as India’s refined-copper import dependence grows.

Adani Group

• Operates Kutch Copper in Gujarat, a $1.2 billion smelter the group calls the world’s largest single-site copper smelting plant.
• Adani Enterprises was part of the pre-bid conference for Hindustan Copper’s Jharkhand mine assets, alongside Hindalco.
• Set to be a buyer of copper concentrate under Hindustan Copper’s proposed Codelco tie-up in Chile.
• Also scouting copper investment opportunities in Peru as part of a broader raw-material security push.

Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL)

• India’s only integrated copper producer, holding roughly 45% of the country’s copper ore reserves; it plans over ₹7,000 crore in expansion investment over the next five to six years.
• In due diligence with Chile’s Codelco on a joint venture for copper mining and exploration, with Coal India and NTPC Mining as potential partners; a technical team has already visited Chile.
• Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) signed MoUs with PSU partners, namely RITES, Indian Oil Corporation, Coal India, Oil India, and GAIL, to expand its mining footprint and plans to bid for rare-earth-element blocks alongside IOCL and GAIL.
• Approved a deal with Lohum to restart its Gujarat copper plant and partnered with Engineers India for technical and engineering support as it modernizes operations across multiple states.

Coal India (via subsidiary Bharat Coking Coal Ltd)

• Scouting rare-earth mining partnerships across Australia, Russia, Argentina, Chile, and several African countries as India looks to cut reliance on China-dominated supply chains.
• Domestically, aims to collaborate with state-run IREL (Indian Rare Earths Limited), Khanij Bidesh India, and Hindustan Copper on rare-earth projects.
• Funding these partnerships partly through proceeds of Bharat Coking Coal’s $119-million IPO, which was oversubscribed nearly 147 times.
• Separately setting up its first overseas trading office in Singapore to diversify into trading iron ore and critical and strategic minerals.

Vedanta Group (via Hindustan Zinc)

• Hindustan Zinc is the world’s largest integrated zinc producer and among the top five silver producers globally, supplying roughly 700 tonnes of silver a year. Silver alone contributed over 40% of its profit in recent quarters, making it a direct solar-panel and electronics metal play.
• This week, it secured a mining lease for a rare-earth block in Karnataka, building on an earlier composite licence for the Nawatola Laband REE block in Uttar Pradesh’s Sonbhadra district, which marked its first such rare-earth foothold.
• Chairperson Priya Agarwal Hebbar has said the group is actively pursuing rare earths, lithium, and other critical minerals, alongside AI- and drone-led exploration partnerships.
• Vedanta is investing up to $2 billion to nearly double Hindustan Zinc’s production capacity to 2 million tonnes, and has flagged interest in entering uranium mining if regulations permit, as part of a broader ₹1-trillion investment pledge in Rajasthan announced by chairman Anil Agarwal.