In India, incidents of copper cable theft from metro, railway, electricity and telecom networks are continuously increasing. From Delhi Metro to Railways and BSNL, many big cases have come to light in recent months. The main reason for this is the record prices of copper across the world, which has made copper theft a new business of organized crime. Recently, Financial Times has published a report, according to which copper theft is taking place in many countries of the world like Chile, Canada, Britain, due to which even electricity, internet and rail services are being affected. Let us understand in detail in this news why this theft has suddenly increased. What real damage is being caused by this and what are governments around the world doing to stop it?
Why is copper theft increasing in India?
In recent months, many cases of copper cable theft from metro, railway, electricity and telecom networks have been reported in India. In late June, 32 meters of copper cable was stolen from the Delhi Metro line in Delhi’s Punjabi Bagh area. Considering the matter as serious, the Delhi High Court refused to grant bail to the accused and said that such theft poses a serious threat to the safety and life of the common people. The railway network is also under constant target. Due to cutting of signal cable in Bihar’s Danapur Railway Division, train operations on both the lines were disrupted for hours and many trains were delayed by three to four hours. Due to theft of 25 thousand volt overhead power wire in Jehanabad, about 35 meters of wire went missing, while due to cutting of signal cable at Mokama station, trains like Vande Bharat and Janshatabdi had to stop midway. In Dhanbad division of Jharkhand, RPF also busted a gang involved in stealing signal cables.
Telecom network is also not untouched by this. In Jaipur, five people were arrested in the case of theft of underground cable of BSNL worth about Rs 1.5 crore. Whereas in Nashik, within a few months, the police exposed several gangs involved in stealing underground copper and aluminum cables, in which goods worth crores of rupees were recovered. In Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh also, police recovered electric wires worth about Rs 36 lakh kept for underground power lines.
Crisis deepens not only in India but also in the world
Copper theft has now become a global problem. This year, in Chile, the world’s largest copper producing country, the police busted the country’s biggest copper theft racket in an investigation called “High Voltage”. The investigation revealed that in the last five years, criminals sold stolen copper worth about one billion dollars, which was transported to China through shell companies and money laundering. About 420 kilometers of copper cable was stolen in Chile during 2025, affecting about 2.6 lakh consumers. The country’s largest electricity company recorded 1,426 theft incidents this year, which is double than last year.
According to a major telecom company in Canada, copper theft has increased by more than 700 percent since 2022 and 918 incidents have been reported so far this year. In Britain, cases of copper theft from solar and wind farms have increased by more than 140 percent. In Brazil, organized gangs related to drug smuggling are now active in this business, while in Spain last year more than 65 thousand meters of copper cable was stolen.
The biggest reason for the rise in prices
The biggest reason for increase in copper theft is considered to be the record prices of copper. Due to production problems and disasters in mines, copper prices increased by more than 40 percent to record levels last year and have remained at high levels this year too. On the other hand, the demand for copper is increasing rapidly due to the expansion of construction, energy, electric vehicles, AI data centers and power grid. For this reason, thieves are now targeting critical infrastructure like electricity and telecom cables, railway signaling, EV charging stations and solar-wind farms. Solar and wind farms built in remote areas are becoming easy targets due to lack of security.
Economic as well as social loss
The loss of copper theft is not limited to just the cost of the stolen wire. Due to this, electricity, internet, phone and rail services come to a standstill. In the last financial year in Britain, due to 111 incidents of cable theft, trains were delayed by about 1.28 lakh minutes and the Railways had to suffer a loss of about 68 lakh pounds.
Rio de Janeiro police officials say that such thefts have a direct impact on vital public infrastructure and the loss to society is many times greater than the value of the stolen copper. After theft, the copper is cut into small pieces and sold as scrap, which makes it extremely difficult to track.
How are governments coping?
Many countries have taken strict steps to stop copper theft. In 2013, Britain made licensing mandatory by banning cash payments to scrap dealers, which led to a decline in metal theft cases. Brazil has enacted stringent punishment for electricity and telecom cable theft, and a major energy company has started using nanotechnology in copper cables so that they can be identified even after melting. Chile is now working with Interpol to identify international buyers of stolen copper. Officials believe that better coordination between countries will be necessary to curb organized networks.
If seen from India’s perspective, copper theft is no longer a common crime in India. Gangs targeting important infrastructure like metro, railways, electricity and telecom are becoming increasingly organized. If copper prices remain high and the monitoring system is not strengthened, such incidents may increase in the future, the impact of which will not only be limited to economic loss, but the daily essential services of crores of people may also be affected.
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