The Indian metal processing industry is dominated by a small number of large, mostly private,
domestic companies. Most Indian metal companies operate globally, and international competition
means they must be large enough to achieve economies of scale. Refined lead and zinc production is
monopolised by one privately-held company. Most Indian metal processing companies are verticallyintegrated
in a sense that they have captive mines as well as power plants. A notable exception is the
copper segment in which 98% of total production is based on imported copper concentrate, and only
state-owned company Hindustan Copper uses for its production resources from its captive mines.