Hindalco Industries is rapidly expanding its aluminium operations in Odisha as Adani Group announces a major ₹1.08 lakh crore greenfield project, escalating India’s metal rivalry with significant investments in downstream and renewable energy.
Hindalco Industries is moving to shore up its position in aluminium just as Adani Group prepares a major push into the same market, turning a long-running rivalry that began in cement into a new contest over metals, power and industrial scale. According to The Hindu BusinessLine, the Aditya Birla Group company plans to invest about ₹50,000 crore in capacity expansion, upstream integration and higher-value downstream products, with the aim of strengthening its cost base and reducing its dependence on London Metal Exchange-linked pricing.
The timing matters because Adani Enterprises and Abu Dhabi-based International Resources Holding have announced a 50:50 venture to develop a greenfield aluminium complex in Odisha worth about ₹1.08 lakh crore. Company statements say the project will include a 4 million tonnes-a-year alumina refinery, a 2 million tonnes-a-year smelter, a 4,000 MW captive power plant and a downstream manufacturing park, with development split into two phases and supported by Odisha government clearances.
Hindalco is already responding on the ground. Satish Pai, managing director of Hindalco, told The Hindu BusinessLine that Adani is still at the announcement stage, while Hindalco is expanding existing assets. In January, the company announced a ₹21,000 crore smelter expansion at its Aditya Aluminium complex in Sambalpur, alongside a battery-grade foil facility in Odisha, and it says its broader investment plan in the state is about ₹37,000 crore.
The company’s strategy is not simply to make more primary metal. Hindalco says its advantage lies in a tightly linked chain that covers mining, refining, smelting, fabrication and recycling, giving it better control over costs and a bigger share of the profit pool. Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of Hindalco Industries, has also pointed to earlier investments in Mahan Aluminium, Aditya Aluminium and Utkal Alumina as the base for the next phase of growth.
That downstream push is central to the company’s thinking. Hindalco has been expanding into engineered products that are less exposed to metal price swings, including battery foils, automotive parts, specialist alloys and materials used in aerospace and electronics. The Odisha foil plant, which the company says is India’s first battery-grade aluminium foil facility, is intended to support lithium-ion cell production and broader electric mobility supply chains.
Novelis, Hindalco’s global downstream arm, is another important lever. The company says the restart of its Oswego plant and the planned Bay Minette facility in the United States in the second half of 2026 should help improve earnings and support a long-term adjusted EBITDA target of $600 a tonne. Hindalco has 19 plants in India and 29 overseas, giving it a global manufacturing footprint that a new entrant would need years to replicate.
The broader market backdrop favours both groups. Government estimates cited by The Hindu BusinessLine suggest domestic aluminium demand could rise sharply over the next two decades, driven by infrastructure, renewable energy, electric vehicles, rail, data centres and advanced manufacturing. Hindalco is also betting on renewable power, saying it is the only aluminium producer in India with round-the-clock renewable energy, backed by 400 MW secured and a larger captive pipeline. That combination of power, logistics and vertical integration may prove decisive in a sector where the biggest plants do not always win.
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