Hindalco to invest Rs 45 000 cr for aluminium copper businesses over 4 years

    Mumbai, Mar 20 (PTI) Aditya Birla Group company Hindalco on Thursday announced that it is aiming to invest Rs 45,000 crore across its aluminium, copper and speciality alumina businesses over the next three to four years.
    "I think, the way to compete and grow is to invest. And I don't think there is any reason for us to wait and watch," the group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla told reporters after making the announcement.
    Amid concerns over sluggish private sector capex, Birla said all the basics are right with the health of the economy, the financial strength of companies and the banking's system capabilities to support the private sector's investment intentions.
    Speaking at an event to unveil a new brand identity for Hindalco, the company's managing director Satish Pai said the new investments will be going into a copper smelter, an aluminium smelter, a copper recycling plant, aluminium foil and copper foil.
    The investments will be done over the next three to four years, he said, adding that some of the projects have already begun.
    A bulk of the investments are in the upstream operations and not the downstream areas because the company has invested in the latter over the last five years.
    Hindalco is planning to double the share of downstream in the pre-tax profits to 30 per cent in the next three years, Pai told PTI later.
    Apart from margin expansion, he said the higher focus on downstream, which involves value additions rather than just supplying a metal, is also beneficial in other aspects like getting a talented workforce.
    The company will be using internal accruals to fund the capital expenditure, Pai said, adding that he does not see any need for raising debt by Hindalco in FY26.
    There can be some refinance activity which its American subsidiary Novelis may look at in Q4 FY26, he added.
    The tariff move announced by the US administration is "neutral to positive" for the Aditya Birla group company, Pai said.
    The surge in commodity prices is a positive for the company, but it is not making its business budgeting based on the higher margins that it may accrue.
    He said the auto industry's shift to electric vehicles is not as aggressive as was widely expected initially, but added that the company is not impacted by it because its plans are from a conservative standpoint.
    Birla said the company wants to be a force for good and affirmed the country's largest aluminium producer's commitment towards it.
    "We are committing Rs 45,000 crore across the aluminium, copper and speciality alumina businesses to deliver both upstream as well as next-gen, high precision engineered products," Birla said at the event.
    Aluminium, copper, and alumina are integral to solar modules and battery storage, Birla said.
    The company is adding 150 MW to its renewable energy capacity to take the overall generation possibility to 350 MW, he added.
    The company has "pioneered" a 100 MW renewable energy solution in Odisha for aluminium smelting, 'combining wind, solar, and pumped hydro storage for stable, round-the-clock energy, Birla said.
    The company is working on solutions in different areas, including EV mobility, renewable energy, energy storage, semiconductors, and high-end electronics, he noted.
    In auto, Hindalco is enabling lighter, more fuel-efficient, and EV-ready vehicles, and has helped design and manufacture lightweight battery enclosures for two-wheelers and cars, he said.
    The company is setting up India's first Copper Foil facility for EVs, and also looking at the high-speed transportation sector, Birla said, pointing out that the first hyperloop test track has Hindalco's high-precision aluminium extrusions.
    It is also developing hard alloy products for defence and working with ISRO on one-of-a-kind components for Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan.
    Birla Copper is setting up India's first e-waste recycling plant, extracting and recycling metals from discarded devices, the head of the conglomerate said.
    Hindalco runs 52 plants across the world and employs 47,000 people, Birla said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)