Parliament Question: Copper Plant in Khetri, Rajasthan

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINES LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †3177 ANSWERED ON 11.03.2026 COPPER PLANT IN KHETRI, RAJASTHAN †3177. SHRI BRIJENDRA SINGH OLA: Will the Minister of MINES be pleased to state: (a) whether the copper plant located in Khetri, Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan is covered under the Mini Ratna Category-I and if so, the details thereof; (b) whether the said plant was previously equipped with copper smelters for copper refining; (c) whether the refining process was being carried out there locally; (d) if so, whether the said plant is currently non-operational along with the reasons therefor; (e) whether the Government is aware that the hundreds of skilled youth and labourers of the region have become unemployed due to the closure of the copper smelter; (f) if so, the time by which the said copper smelter is likely to be restarted; and (g) if not, the reasons therefor? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR COAL AND MINES (SHRI SATISH CHANDRA DUBEY) (a) to (g): Khetri Copper Complex (KCC), situated in Jhunjhunu district of Rajasthan is a unit of Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL), a Miniratna-I CPSE under Ministry of Mines. Smelter and Refinery plant in KCC have been closed due to reasons like low grade of copper ore, high processing cost, huge additional investment required for plant overhaul and replacement of acid plants in compliance with pollution control norms etc. All the employees of KCC Smelter–Refinery plant were redeployed to other operations of the company. Smelter and Refinery plant should have large production capacity to become economically viable and require huge capital investment. The scope for increasing mine production capacity substantially at KCC in order to restart the Copper Smelter is not economically viable. *****