Abu Dhabi's International Holding Company and India's Adani Group have signed an initial pact to invest $11.5 billion to develop an aluminium project in the Asian nation.
International Resources Holding (IRH), an IHC group company through 2PointZero, and Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) signed the initial pact with the Indian state of Odisha for the integrated greenfield aluminium project, the Adani Group said in a statement on Thursday. AEL and IHC are to form a joint venture with a 50 per cent stake each for the proposed project.
It will include a four million metric tonnes per annum (mmtpa) alumina refinery, a two mmtpa aluminium smelter, a 4,000-megawatt captive power plant and a one mmtpa downstream manufacturing park.
The project is expected to be Odisha's largest foreign direct investment proposal and India's largest foreign direct investment in the metallurgy sector, the statement said. It is expected to generate about 53,500 jobs across construction and operations, it added.
“At IHC, we are building long-term platforms in industries that will define the future of the global economy," said chief executive and managing director Syed Basar Shueb. "Through IRH, we are building an integrated mining and minerals business, investing across critical minerals to support industrial development, strengthen supply chain resilience and advance the energy transition.”
IHC, one of the most valuable holding companies in the Middle East, operates through more than 1,300 subsidiaries, with a presence in technology, infrastructure, financial services and the consumer sector.
Despite the Iran war, the company has not changed its investment strategy and will continue to deploy capital in global markets, Mr Shueb told The National in an interview in May.
IHC planned to invest up to $8 billion over the next six months in sectors including mining, energy and financial services, he said.
In January, Mr Shueb also told The National that India is a key focus of the country's global investment strategy. He outlined a broad portfolio of investments across the energy, industrial and property sectors, underlining India’s role as a strategic rather than an opportunistic allocation.
“We are investing in renewable solar power projects. We are investing in battery solution. We are investing in nuclear, we are investing in aluminium smelter and real estate development,” he said at the time.
Earlier this year, IHC Group company ePointZero entered into a joint venture with Adani Green Energy to develop renewable energy projects across India.
IRH is a global mine-to-market platform investing in minerals critical to the energy transition and technological advancement. Its model covers upstream exploration, midstream processing and downstream distribution. It targets minerals such as copper, cobalt, nickel, manganese, graphite, rare earth metals, tin, tantalum and tungsten.
India is keen to boost domestic aluminium production to meet growing demand, which is expected to reach 8.5 million tonnes by the 2030 fiscal year. The state of Odisha, home to some of India's largest bauxite reserves, accounts for about 54 per cent of the country's aluminium output.
The joint venture partners are to work with the Odisha government for the next phase of the project, including land acquisition, statutory approvals and infrastructure planning, the statement said. The project will be developed in two phases, with investments of about $6.9 million in phase one and $4.6 million in phase two.
The project is expected to generate "significant" indirect employment across logistics, engineering, maintenance and ancillary industries. The downstream manufacturing park is expected to attract manufacturers producing components for transport, construction, power, packaging, renewable energy and advanced engineering, the statement added.
