Billionaire Sajjan Jindal's JSW Group is making its foray into the non-ferrous metals sector with a Rs 26 billion investment, following its entry into the automobile industry last year.

The group’s focus will be on copper, a vital resource for electric vehicles, renewable energy infrastructure, electronics, and telecommunications.

JSW’s entry puts it in direct competition with the Adani Group, which ventured into the copper business in 2022, as well as established players like Hindalco Industries (Aditya Birla Group) and Vedanta (Anil Agarwal).

The investment will fund operations at two copper mines in Jharkhand, awarded to JSW under a contract from state-owned Hindustan Copper. Once fully operational, the mines are expected to produce 3 million tonnes of ore annually.

(ET)