$11.5 Billion Bet on India: Adani-IHC to Build One of the World’s Largest Integrated Aluminium Hubs in Odisha

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Officials on Friday said the state government has handed over documents for 4,000 acres in Sundargada district and another 3,000 acres in Rayagada district, marking a significant milestone for the proposed $11.5 billion (around ₹1.08 trillion) project. The land documents were handed over by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi in the presence of India’s Ambassador to the UAE Deepak Mittal.

Hemant Sharma, additional chief secretary of the industries department, said the land for the project was handed over within 70 days of the signing of the MoU. "The agreement was signed on July 2 this year and the land documents were handed over on September 9, making the turnaround from investment commitment to land handover 67 days. This is the speed of doing business Odisha has adopted to facilitate large-scale investments," he said at a roadshow in Dubai.

The Adani Group and IRH, a unit of Abu Dhabi-based International Holding Company (IHC), have proposed to invest $11.5 billion in a 50:50 joint venture to develop a large integrated aluminium complex in Odisha. Billed as India’s largest foreign direct investment (FDI) in mining and metallurgy and the biggest FDI proposal for Odisha, the project will come up in two locations and in two phases, with about ₹66,000 crore earmarked for the first phase and another ₹42,000 crore for the second.

The proposed complex will cover the entire aluminium value chain, from alumina production and aluminium smelting to downstream manufacturing. It will include a 4 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) alumina refinery, a 2 mtpa aluminium smelter, a 1 mtpa downstream manufacturing park and a 4,000 megawatt (Mw) captive power plant, including 400 Mw of green power capacity.

 

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For India, the opportunity is unusually strong because it already possesses the difficult upstream foundations: large bauxite resources, alumina production, major domestic producers, engineering capability and a rapidly fast growing domestic end market. The Adani-IRH project potentially adds another 4 mtpa of alumina + 2 mtpa of primary aluminium + 1 mtpa downstream manufacturing. Steel will remain vastly larger by tonnage but aluminium is becoming highly strategic because electrification and lightweighting pull it into EVs, power transmission, renewable energy, railways, aerospace, defence, packaging, buildings, electronics and data-centre electrical infrastructure.