{"id":64818,"date":"2026-01-21T18:35:24","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T13:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=64818"},"modified":"2026-01-21T18:36:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T13:06:59","slug":"ev-boom-copper-crunch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/21-01-2026\/ev-boom-copper-crunch","title":{"rendered":"The EV Boom is Accelerating a Copper Crunch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/Economy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The global shift toward<strong> electric vehicles (EVs)<\/strong> is leading to a growing challenge of <strong>copper crunch.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Copper<\/strong> forms the <strong>backbone <\/strong>of EV batteries, motors, wiring, charging infrastructure, and power grids.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>As EV adoption accelerates,<\/strong> copper demand has entered a phase of <strong>exponential growth<\/strong> that many policymakers and markets have underestimated.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background has-fixed-layout\" style=\"background-color:#ebecf0\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Copper (Cu)<\/strong><br><br>&#8211; <strong>Copper (Cu)<\/strong> is a <strong>reddish-orange, soft<\/strong> and <strong>highly malleable metal<\/strong> with <strong>atomic number 29,<\/strong> known for its exceptional electrical and thermal conductivity.\u00a0<br>&#8211; These properties make it vital for <strong>electrical wiring, power transmission, plumbing and electronic applications.\u00a0<\/strong><br>&#8211; Copper is also a key component of important alloys such as <strong>brass (copper\u2013zinc) and bronze (copper\u2013tin),<\/strong> which enhance strength and corrosion resistance.<br>&#8211; <strong>Chile, Peru and Australia<\/strong> accounted for 19%, 12%, and 10% of the world\u2019s copper reserves in <strong>2024<\/strong>.<br>&#8211; India has significant <strong>copper ore resources<\/strong> primarily in <strong>Rajasthan&#8217;s Khetri belt, Madhya Pradesh&#8217;s Malanjkhand<\/strong> , and <strong>Jharkhand&#8217;s Singhbhum belt.<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Expansion of EV&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Between 2015 and 2025,<\/strong> global EV sales rose from approximately<strong> 0.55 million units to an estimated 20 million units.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The <strong>associated copper consumption<\/strong> surged from roughly<strong> 27.5 thousand tonnes to over 1.28 million tons,<\/strong> showing copper to be the hidden backbone of the EV revolution.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Therefore, the EV transition must be understood not only as a technological shift but also as a<strong> resource-intensive transformation<\/strong> <strong>constrained by metals as much as by markets.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Concerns with Rising Demand of Cooper<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Deficit: <\/strong>Copper demand is rising sharply, global supply has begun to plateau, creating a widening gap.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Concerns Faced by Major Producers:<\/strong> Declining ore grades at existing mines, decade-long development timelines for new projects, and environmental opposition in major producing regions such as Chile, Peru and the United States constrain supply growth.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Future Projection: <\/strong>The gap is expected to widen to 4.5 million tons by 2028 and nearly 8 million tons by 2030, equivalent to the output of the world\u2019s 10 largest copper mines combined.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Impact on EV: <\/strong>Such shortages could increase EV costs, delay the development of charging infrastructure, and strain decarbonisation targets.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>China\u2019s Dominance:<\/strong> China accounts for almost 60% of global EV copper demand.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>China controls over 70% of global battery cell production and its deeply integrated supply chain.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This asymmetry provides China with a structural advantage in terms of pricing power, long-term supply contracts, and strategic leverage over copper-rich regions.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India is currently not self-sufficient in terms of its copper supply.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Domestic ore production in 2023-24 was 3.78 million tonnes, 8 percent lower than in 2018-19.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Copper is a deep-seated mineral, which makes it more difficult and expensive to explore and mine as compared to surficial or bulk minerals.\u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India must, therefore, develop a strategy to build a resilient copper supply chain that meets its growing needs by optimising various stages of the supply chain.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/the-ev-boom-is-accelerating-a-copper-crunch\/article70530376.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Context<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The global shift toward electric vehicles (EVs) is leading to a growing challenge of copper crunch.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> About <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Copper forms the backbone of EV batteries, motors, wiring, charging infrastructure, and power grids.\u00a0 <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">As EV adoption accelerates, copper demand has entered a phase of exponential growth that many policymakers and markets have underestimated.\u00a0 <\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/21-01-2026\/ev-boom-copper-crunch\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64818"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64820,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64818\/revisions\/64820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}