Hindustan Copper ~50% revenue growth in FY26 and targets ~3x capacity expansion by FY30

Hindustan Copper is India's only miner of copper ore, handling everything from digging ore to making wire rods. Think of it as the starting point for wires in motors, transformers and cables, selling crushed ore with 17-26% copper to smelters and finished rods to wire makers. On 21 September 2026 it submitted an updated corporate presentation to the exchanges , showing FY25-26 ore output of 36.70 lakh tonnes, Metal in Concentrate production of 27,421 tonnes and revenue from operations of ₹3,077.92 crore . The takeaway is operating leverage from record volumes cut debt to near zero and funded a plan to more than triple mining capacity to 12.20 MTPA by FY30 on a strong domestic demand outlook.

FY26 was a record on volume and profit

The August 2026 deck reports copper ore production of 36.70 lakh tonnes for FY25-26, a 6% increase over FY24-25 . Metal in Concentrate, the copper contained in crushed ore, was 27,421 tonnes, up 9% and described as a seven-year production high . Metal in Concentrate sold was 27,369 tonnes, up 12% and the highest in five years .

Revenue and profit moved faster than volume. Annual revenue and profit were as follows:

Revenue grew 48.6% in FY26 after 20.6% in FY25 . Net profit grew 97.5% in FY26 after 57.5% in FY25 . Net margin widened from 22.5% in FY25 to 29.8% in FY26 . EBITDA margin, a measure of operating profitability, rose to 46.7% in FY26 from 39.3% in FY25 . The improvement came as revenue rose 48.6% while expenses rose only 20.1% . FY26 profit before tax included an exceptional item of ₹95.8 crore, without which underlying profit before tax would be ₹1,328 crore .

The only quarterly revenue disclosed in the deck is ₹936.50 crore for Q1 FY26-27 . The fuller quarterly trend from filings was as follows:

Q4 FY26 contributed 37.6% of full-year revenue . Q1 FY27 revenue grew 81.4% year on year and net profit grew 162.5% on a net profit of ₹352.37 crore . Q4 FY26 net margin was 38.4%, with Q1 FY27 EBITDA margin at 56.0% and Q4 FY26 at 57.1% .

Total dividend declared for the year rose to ₹276.57 crore for FY25-26 from ₹141.19 crore for FY24-25, ₹88.97 crore for FY23-24 and ₹88.97 crore for FY22-23 .

Debt is down and cash is up

The loan trend shown in the deck is as follows:

Total borrowings fell to ₹109.91 crore in FY26 from ₹166.47 crore in FY25, a reduction of ₹56.56 crore . Short-term debt was ₹72.42 crore and long-term debt was ₹37.49 crore at Q4 FY26, compared with ₹57.50 crore and ₹108.97 crore at Q4 FY25 .

Operating cash flow rose to ₹1,474 crore in FY26, at 1.6 times net profit, from ₹544 crore at 1.2 times net profit . Free cash flow, operating cash flow minus capex, was ₹1,346 crore . Cash conversion cycle halved to 38.6 days from 66.4 days . The balance sheet turned to net cash of ₹285.95 crore in FY26 from net debt of ₹148.95 crore in FY25 . Debt to equity improved to 0.03 times from 0.06 times . Interest cost fell to ₹4.91 crore in FY25-26 from ₹6.93 crore . The deck carries ICRA A1+ short-term and ICRA AA+ Stable long-term ratings from October 2025 .

From around 4 MTPA to 12.20 MTPA by FY30

MTPA means million tonnes per annum. Present and planned mining capacity by unit is as follows:

The expansion is described as currently under implementation . Malanjkhand expansion is via underground mine expansion, new paste fill plants and concentrator plants and extensive exploration .

The yearly ore production road map is back-ended:

The earlier September 2025 deck had shown a smoother path to 12.2 Mt by FY30-31, at 3.47 Mt in FY24-25, 4.35 Mt in FY25-26, 6.21 Mt in FY26-27, 8.24 Mt in FY27-28 and 9.6 Mt in FY28-29 . The milestones for Indian Copper Complex included Kendadih capacity of 2.25 lakh tonnes per annum expected by December 2025 and Rakha capacity of 30 lakh tonnes per annum with restart expected by Q4 FY26 . Rakha Mine MDO contract awarded in 2024 was described as a first-of-its-kind revenue-sharing model in underground metal mining in India . Surda Mine reopened in 2025 and Kendallh Mine in 2026 .

Reserves keep growing to feed expansion

Total copper ore reserves and resources, reserve plus resource under the UNFC system, have risen each year:

That is an addition of 15.41 crore tonnes over four years . Since 1 April 2018, when resources were 56.88 crore tonnes, the increase is 21.72 crore tonnes . HCL holds 15.70 crore tonnes of copper ore reserves at an average grade of 1.31%, within total reserves and resources of 76.74 crore tonnes at 0.94% as on 1 April 2025 . It has access to about 45% of India's copper ore reserves and resources and owns all operating mining leases of copper ore in India .

Planned exploration covers depth exploration in Sidheswar Block, Kendall Southern Block, Rakha N-W Block, Khetri and Kolihan Lease, and geophysical methods at Kolihan to prove down-dip ore .

Capex track record and the ₹7,000 crore plan

Actual capex has beaten the MoU target of ₹350 crore each year:

The deck guides to capital investment of over ₹7,000 crore planned in the next 5-6 years . The September 2025 deck had guided to about ₹2,000 crore in the next 5-6 years . No line-item split of the ₹7,000 crore is given, but the context is the mine-wise expansion, paste fill and concentrator plants, exploration gains, reopening of closed mines and new deposits in India and overseas .

Partnerships to support this include global collaboration with CODELCO, Chile for capacity building, knowledge sharing and expertise in mining, beneficiation and exploration . Domestic MoUs are signed with NTPC Mining, RITES, IOCL, Coal India, Oil India and GAIL to expand the mining portfolio and strengthen mineral security .

Why demand backdrop matters

India uses only 0.6 kg copper per person against a world average of 3.2 kg . World refined copper use is projected to grow at 3.3% CAGR from 2024 to 2050 . The deck frames the supply challenge as needing as much copper in the next 25 years as mined in the last 125, with available rock at one-tenth the grade of 1900 and one-fourth of 2000 .

Management says copper demand in the electrical segment is growing on AI infrastructure, renewable energy, electric vehicles and urbanisation . Listed drivers that will further increase growth of copper-consuming industries are Make in India, 100 Smart City Projects, Metro and Railway Projects, Aatmanirbhar Bharat in Defence, 500 GW renewable energy target by 2032, PLI schemes for consumer electronics, accelerated growth for electric vehicles, National Highway Development and Metro Expansion, and PM-EV drive with total fund of ₹10,900 crore .

HCL is the only copper miner in India and its concentrate is majorly consumed by domestic primary copper producers . Custom smelters largely import concentrate and sit near ports . Listed capacities are Hindalco at Dahej at 5 lakh tonnes per annum refined copper, Vedanta at Silvasa at 2.16 lakh tonnes per annum, Adani Kutch Copper Phase-I at 5 lakh tonnes per annum installed, Adani Phase-II at 5 lakh tonnes per annum and JSW announced at 5 lakh tonnes per annum in Odisha, with Hindalco also adding a secondary smelter at Dahej . HCL's FY25-26 Metal in Concentrate output of 27,421 tonnes sits well below single smelter capacities, underlining why its ore expansion is positioned as domestic feed for larger refining .

What happens at Taloja and Gujarat

Taloja Copper Project is a continuous casting wire rod plant with wire rod capacity of 0.6 lakh tonnes, currently operating in third-party tolling mode with a tolling target of 60,000 tonnes per annum of cathodes . Wire rod diameters are 8, 11, 12.5, 16 and 19.6 mm for winding wires and strips .

Gujarat Copper Project has refined copper capacity of 0.5 lakh tonnes and is currently not in operation . A letter of intent is issued to Lohum Materials Pvt. Ltd for a revenue-sharing model, with production to start by Q4 FY27 . No revenue split, duration or operating terms are disclosed .

Market snapshot

The Government of India held 60.14% as on 28 August 2026, with foreign institutions at 7.73%, domestic institutions at 5.05% and non-institutions at 27.08% . Market capitalisation was ₹50,822 crore on BSE as of 30 August 2026 .

The stock closed at ₹508.25 on 22 September 2026 . That was down 2.78% from ₹522.80 at the start of 2026 and 33.05% below the peak of ₹759.20 on 29 January 2026 . Since ₹187.95 on 27 June 2024 it has gained 170.4% .

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Sources

1. 1 Updated Corporate Presentation of Hindustan Copper Limited is Submitted.
2. 2 Investor presentation, Aug 2026
3. 3 Investor presentation, Sep 2025
4. 4 Investor presentation, Sep 2025
5. 5 BSE/NSE EOD prices & index levels