New Delhi, July 17 -- India must act decisively to build functional copper reserves and leverage the metal's remarkable recyclability to secure its future economic and strategic interests, recommends the International Copper Association (ICA) India on the Copper Vision Document 2025.

According to the report, to build functional reserves, India must promote copper usage now, especially in government procurement and sectors like infrastructure, where copper can replace less critical metals such as aluminium. This will create an "above-ground mine" of copper that can be tapped in the future.

Currently, China refines over half of the world's copper, and the concentration of processing capacity in one region creates a significant vulnerabili...