State-owned Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL) is looking to rope in a partner with strong financial health to help it expedite ore output capacity to over 20 million tonnes per annum (MTPA), it's CMD Arun Kumar Shukla has said.

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He said all statutory clearances are in place for the first phase of expansion.

Speaking to PTI, the HCL chairman and managing director said the company will enhance its ore production capacity from the current level of 4 MTPA to 12.2 MTPA in the first phase, and subsequently to 20.2 MTPA, in line with the government's 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' initiative.

To achieve this target, he said HCL "is looking for a suitable partner with a strong financial background to expedite its future mine expansion project at a faster pace".

Kumar said the three-fold rise in ore production under the first phase is expected to be achieved in the next seven to eight years and this includes a major shift from open-pit mining to underground mining at Malanjkhand Copper Project (MCP) -- the flagship unit of HCL.

HCL is presently struggling with the issue of low-grade ore. However, it is expected that by the end of 2020-2021 ore production from the underground mine will start and the issue will be partially addressed, the CMD explained.

Earlier, Shukla had said that the financial condition of HCL is in "dire straits" primarily due to the dismal performance of the PSU in 2019-20 and had asked the employees to brace up for tough times ahead.

Hindustan Copper had posted a consolidated loss of Rs 514.27 crore for the quarter ended March 2020.

For the year ended March 2020, the company had a consolidated loss of Rs 569.21 crore.