LUSAKA, Sept 1 – India has resumed discussions with Zambia on potential investments in copper and other critical minerals as New Delhi steps up efforts to secure long-term access to raw materials needed to support its rapidly expanding economy.
Officials from India’s Ministry of Mines held preliminary discussions with their Zambian counterparts on August 26, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing two people familiar with the talks who requested anonymity because the discussions were confidential.
The latest discussions follow the breakdown of earlier negotiations between the two countries. Reuters reported in April that talks had stalled after Lusaka did not provide sufficient assurances over mining rights covering an area of about 9,000 square kilometres that had been awarded to India in 2025.
One of the sources said the latest discussions did not address that stalled project. India’s Ministry of Mines did not respond to a request for comment, while a spokesperson for Zambia’s Ministry of Mines said the government could not confirm details of the discussions at this stage.
The renewed engagement reflects India’s broader push to diversify its sources of critical minerals beyond domestic production. New Delhi is increasingly looking overseas for supplies of copper and other strategic raw materials as industrialisation, infrastructure development and manufacturing increase demand.
Khanij Bidesh India Ltd, the government-backed vehicle responsible for securing critical mineral supplies overseas, is assessing opportunities in several countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, Russia and Indonesia. The company is also engaged in discussions over a potential project in Malawi.
India has been pursuing government-to-government arrangements with several African countries to secure access to mineral resources, while simultaneously evaluating projects in Australia and Latin America.
Africa is particularly significant to India’s strategy because of the concentration of copper and cobalt resources in countries such as Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. A spokesperson for the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries said the region could play an important role in meeting India’s future requirements for the two metals.
“We believe Indian companies should primarily be encouraged to pursue brownfield and near-production projects, along with long-term offtake arrangements,” the spokesperson said.
Brownfield investments generally involve expanding or upgrading existing mining operations, while offtake agreements provide buyers with contractual access to future production. Such arrangements can give Indian companies greater certainty over supplies without requiring them to develop entirely new mines from the ground up.
Copper has become an increasingly important component of India’s external supply strategy. The country is the world’s second-largest buyer of refined copper, and imports have increased substantially since the closure of Vedanta’s Sterlite Copper smelter in 2018.
India’s dependence on imported copper concentrates is also expected to increase significantly over the longer term. Government projections indicate that the country could need to import between 91% and 97% of its copper concentrate requirements by 2047.
For Zambia, renewed engagement with India offers another potential source of investment and market access as the country seeks to expand its mining sector and attract capital into copper production. Zambia is one of Africa’s major copper producers, making its mineral resources strategically important to countries seeking to secure supplies for industrial and energy-transition applications.
The latest talks remain at a preliminary stage, and there is no indication that the two governments have reached an agreement on a specific mining investment. The outcome of discussions over mining rights, project structures and long-term supply arrangements will determine whether the renewed engagement develops into concrete investment.
For India, however, the discussions with Zambia form part of a much broader effort to establish a diversified international supply chain for critical minerals, with Africa emerging as an increasingly important component of that strategy.
