India's Hunt for African Copper: Why Zambia and Congo Matter to India's Critical Minerals Strategy
India's next industrial revolution will require enormous quantities of raw materials.
Electric vehicles need copper. Expanding electricity grids need copper. Renewable-energy projects,
electronics, railways, data centres and manufacturing all require increasingly secure supplies of metals and minerals.
That is pushing New Delhi to look far beyond India's borders.
And Africa is moving closer to the centre of the strategy.
India Critical Minerals strategy is increasingly looking toward Africa, where countries such as Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo hold major copper and cobalt resources that could support India's growing industrial and energy needs.
India has revived discussions with Zambia over potential investments in copper and other critical minerals, while the Democratic Republic of Congo is also being viewed by Indian policymakers as an important potential source of copper and cobalt.
The reason is straightforward: India's demand is growing much faster than its domestic mineral supply.
Reuters reports that India is already the world's second-largest importer of refined copper, and projections indicate the country could need to import between 91% and 97% of its copper concentrate requirements by 2047.
That turns the mineral-rich belt running through Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo into something strategically important to India.
For New Delhi, securing African minerals is no longer simply a mining opportunity.
It is becoming an issue of industrial security.
India Critical Minerals Strategy Is Going Global
India has been attempting to reduce its vulnerability to concentrated global mineral supply chains.
The government established the National Critical Mineral Mission, while state-backed Khanij Bidesh India Ltd better known as KABIL has been tasked with identifying and securing overseas mineral assets.
India is not looking only at Africa.
KABIL and other Indian entities have examined opportunities in countries including Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada and elsewhere.
But Africa offers something particularly important: some of the world's most significant copper and cobalt resources.
The Ministry of Mines has also expanded research into extraction, processing and recycling of critical minerals. Its current research portfolio includes work involving lithium, nickel, rare-earth elements and recovery of metals from used batteries and industrial waste.
India's strategy therefore has several layers:
find more minerals at home → recycle more → develop processing technology → secure overseas supplies.
Africa increasingly fits into that final component.
Why Zambia Has Suddenly Become More Important to India
Zambia is one of Africa's major copper-producing economies.
Mining dominates the country's export sector, while its geological position within the Central African Copperbelt gives it access to one of the world's most important copper regions.
India has been interested in Zambia's mineral resources before.
But negotiations encountered difficulties over mining rights connected to an approximately 9,000-square-kilometre exploration area that had been offered to India.
Now the discussions have restarted.
Reuters reported that officials from India's Ministry of Mines and their Zambian counterparts held preliminary talks on August 26, with New Delhi again exploring investment in copper and other critical minerals.
This is important because India is not merely discussing buying copper on the international market.
The longer-term strategy could involve investment in mineral assets and long-term supply arrangements.
That would give Indian companies greater visibility over future supply.
India and Zambia Already Have a Mineral Trade Relationship
The relationship is not starting from zero.
Official Indian data show bilateral India–Zambia trade reached about $466.25 million in 2025–26.
India exported approximately $229.86 million worth of goods to Zambia while importing around $236.38 million.
India's imports include non-ferrous metals and ores, including copper and cobalt.
Indian exports to Zambia include pharmaceuticals, machinery, transport equipment, chemicals, plastics, rubber, textiles and electronic goods.
Mining has also been formally included in bilateral cooperation discussions.
The sixth India–Zambia Joint Permanent Commission, held in Lusaka in November 2024, covered mines and mineral resources alongside energy, healthcare, agriculture, technology and other areas.
So the latest copper discussions are part of a much broader relationship.
Zambia Wants Much More Copper Production
India's renewed interest also coincides with Zambia's own ambitions.
The country wants to dramatically expand copper production.
Mining companies have been preparing for a government goal of raising output toward 3 million metric tonnes annually, requiring billions of dollars of investment in mines, processing, exploration, transport and electricity generation.
That last issue is particularly important.
Mining is extraordinarily energy intensive.
Zambia's electricity system relies heavily on hydropower, leaving it vulnerable to drought and power shortages.
Reuters reported that the mining industry estimates roughly 2,000 megawatts of additional generation capacity will be required to support the planned copper expansion.
For India, therefore, investing in African copper may eventually mean looking beyond the mine itself.
Energy, transport, processing and logistics can become part of the equation.
Why Congo Matters Even More for Cobalt
Immediately north of Zambia lies the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Together, the two countries form the heart of the Central African Copperbelt.
But the DRC adds another strategically important mineral to the equation: cobalt.
Cobalt is used in a range of industrial and battery applications, although battery technologies are evolving and some chemistries are reducing or eliminating cobalt dependence.
The DRC remains the world's dominant cobalt producer and is also a major copper producer.
That combination makes it strategically significant to governments and companies trying to secure critical-mineral supply chains.
Reuters reports that Indian officials regard both Zambia and the DRC as key potential African sources of copper and cobalt.
This explains why India's Africa mineral strategy cannot stop at Zambia.
Congo Is Sending an Important Message to Mineral Buyers
There is another reason India needs to understand the DRC carefully.
African mineral producers increasingly want to capture more value from their resources rather than simply exporting raw material.
In June 2026, the Congolese government issued a new order banning exports of copper and cobalt concentrates, while allowing certain one-year exemptions under strategic conditions.
The policy is intended to encourage more domestic processing and increase the economic value Congo retains from its mineral sector.
That matters for India.
The old model, buy ore, ship it abroad and process everything elsewhere — is becoming politically less attractive to some African governments.
Future Indian mineral agreements may therefore have to include:
local processing, investment, jobs, infrastructure, skills and technology transfer.
This could make projects more complex.
But it could also produce more durable partnerships.
India's Problem Is Bigger Than Finding a Mine
Securing critical minerals sounds straightforward: find a resource-rich country and invest.
In practice, mineral supply chains are much more complicated.
A mine needs power.
It needs roads or railways.
The ore may need concentrating, refining or smelting.
The resulting material needs access to a port.
Contracts must survive political changes, commodity-price cycles and regulatory shifts.
Communities living near mines need to see economic benefits.
Environmental standards increasingly matter to buyers and investors.
This means India is not merely searching for copper deposits.
It is effectively searching for reliable mineral ecosystems.
China Is Already Deeply Embedded in Africa's Mineral Economy
India is also entering a landscape where China already has a formidable presence.
Chinese companies have spent years investing in African mines, processing facilities, infrastructure and trading networks.
This is especially significant in the DRC's copper and cobalt industry.
That does not mean India must attempt to replace China.
Nor is Africa simply a geopolitical chessboard where external powers determine outcomes.
African governments and companies have their own interests and increasingly seek to negotiate among competing investors.
For India, this can create an opening.
Instead of trying to replicate the scale of China's investment, New Delhi could concentrate on specific projects where it can combine long-term mineral purchases with investment, processing expertise, financing or industrial partnerships.
The key question is whether Indian companies are prepared to move from buying minerals to investing deeper in the supply chain.
The United States and Europe Want the Same Minerals
China is not India's only competitor.
The United States and European governments are also trying to diversify mineral supply chains.
That has increased strategic interest in infrastructure connecting Zambia and the DRC to global markets.
The competition is increasingly about more than mines.
Railways, ports, smelters, electricity systems and processing plants can determine who has access to future supplies.
India therefore enters a much larger geopolitical race.
But its objective should not simply be to “beat China” or the West.
The real objective is resilience: ensuring Indian industry is not dangerously dependent on a small number of suppliers or routes.
Why Long-Term Offtake Agreements Could Matter
One possible approach is an offtake agreement.
Instead of purchasing minerals only on the open market, an Indian company can agree to buy part of a mine's future production over a long period.
That can give the miner predictable demand and help the buyer secure supply.
Indian industry representatives cited by Reuters have argued that India should prioritise projects already operating or close to production and combine investment with long-term offtake arrangements.
This could be particularly attractive because building a completely new mine can take years.
India's mineral requirements are rising now.
Africa Does Not Want Another Extraction-Only Relationship
This may ultimately be the most important issue.
Africa's mineral wealth has attracted outside powers for generations.
But resource extraction has not always produced equivalent levels of industrialisation or prosperity for local populations.
That history shapes contemporary politics.
Countries such as the DRC increasingly want more minerals processed domestically.
Zambia wants investment not only in mines but also in electricity, infrastructure and mineral processing.
For India, this creates both a challenge and an opportunity.
A relationship built purely around extracting African minerals for Indian factories would eventually face political resistance.
A partnership that creates African jobs and processing capacity while securing supplies for India has a much stronger foundation.
What India's Return to Zambia Really Tells Us
The August 2026 discussions with Zambia should not be mistaken for a completed mining deal.
They are preliminary talks, and earlier negotiations had already encountered difficulties.
But their significance goes beyond whether one particular project succeeds.
They reveal how India's economic geography is changing.
For decades, mineral security rarely occupied a prominent place in mainstream discussions of India–Africa relations.
Electric vehicles, renewable energy, electrification and advanced manufacturing are changing that.
Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo now sit at the intersection of several Indian priorities: industrial growth, energy transition, manufacturing competitiveness and supply-chain security.
And India's dependence on imported copper could become substantial. Reuters reports projections suggesting the country may need to import as much as 91%–97% of its copper concentrate requirements by 2047.
That makes securing overseas supplies prudent.
But the larger lesson from Africa is equally important.
The countries possessing the minerals are demanding a greater share of the value.
Congo's new restrictions on concentrate exports illustrate that shift. Zambia's ambitions for mining investment, power generation and expanded production point in the same direction.
India therefore has an opportunity to build something more durable than a buyer-seller relationship.
If New Delhi can combine mineral security for India with investment and value creation in Africa, Zambia and Congo could become important partners in India's industrial transformation.
If it treats Africa mainly as a source of raw material, the opportunity will be much harder to sustain.
Updated+ Editorial Note
India's August 2026 discussions with Zambia are preliminary and should not be described as a finalized mining investment or mineral-supply agreement. Figures concerning India's projected copper import dependence are forecasts rather than guaranteed outcomes. This article draws on current reporting, India's Ministry of Mines and official India–Zambia bilateral information
