Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL), a public sector undertaking under the administrative control of the Ministry of Mines, was incorporated on 9th November 1967. It has the distinction of being the nation’s only vertically integrated copper producing company as it manufactures copper right from the stage of mining to beneficiation, smelting, refining and casting of refined copper metal into downstream saleable products.
The Company markets copper cathodes, copper wire bar, continuous cast copper rod and by-products, such as anode slime (containing gold, silver, etc.), copper sulphate and sulphuric acid. In normal practice, more than 90% of the sales revenue is generated from cathode and continuous cast copper rods. In concluded financial year 2016-17, as per provisional estimates, the Company has earned a net profit of Rs 61.94 crore against a sales turnover of Rs 1216.94 crore. HCL’s mines and plants are spread across five operating Units, one each in the States of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Gujarat as named below:
| November 1967 | Incorporated to take over from National Mineral Development Corporation Ltd. |
| March 1972 | M/S Indian Copper Corporation Limited, Private Sector Company, located at Ghatsila, Jharkhand with Smelter and Refinery was Nationalized and made part of HCL. |
| February 1975 | Fully integrated Copper complex from mining to refining came on stream at Khetri ( capacity 31,000 tonnes of refined copper) |
| November 1982 | The largest hard rock open pit mine in the country came into stream at Malanjkhand in Madhya Pradesh of capacity 2 million tonnes ore |
| December 1989 | Continuous Cast Wire Rod plant of South Wire Technology of capacity 60,000 MT was commissioned at Taloja in Maharashtra. |
| June 2015 | Secondary Copper Smelter and Refinery Unit at Jhagadia, Gujarat ( 50,000 TPA of Copper Cathodes Conforming to LME-A grade ) |