NALCO targets 2030–31 for ₹30,000 crore Angul smelter expansion, with surplus alumina earmarked for export

National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) is targeting 2030–31 to commission an expansion of its aluminium smelter at Angul in Odisha. In a 4 November 2026 filing, the company put the approved investment at approximately ₹30,000 crore and said the project would add 500,000 tonnes of annual smelting capacity to the existing 460,000 tonnes.

The state-owned producer expects its Damanjodi refinery to produce surplus alumina even after supplying the expanded smelter. NALCO plans to export that surplus initially and is assessing sites in India for a separate 500,000-tonne-a-year smelter that could convert more of the material into aluminium domestically.

NALCO reported progress on statutory approvals, technology licensing and power supply. Land acquisition remains under way. The Rehabilitation and Peripheral Development Advisory Committee recently met to address the land required for the project, including compensation and rehabilitation. Once commissioned, the additional facilities would take Angul’s annual smelting capacity to approximately 960,000 tonnes.

In September, NALCO signed a technology licensing agreement with Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), which it selected through competitive bidding. The agreement allows NALCO to build reduction cells, the units that use electricity to convert alumina into aluminium, using EGA’s DX+ Ultra technology. EGA will provide technical support during development and train NALCO employees to operate the cells. It previously licensed the same technology for Aluminium Bahrain’s Line 6 expansion in 2016.

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