UAE’s IHC Group and Adani Plan $11.5-Billion Integrated Aluminium Complex in Odisha

UAE-based International Holding Company’s resources arm and India’s Adani Group are moving ahead with plans for a massive $11.5-billion integrated aluminium project in Odisha, one of the largest proposed foreign investments in India’s metals sector.

The project is being developed by International Resources Holding, or IRH, an IHC Group company through 2PointZero, together with Adani Enterprises Limited. The two companies plan to establish a 50:50 joint venture for the project.

The investment was formally announced on July 2, 2026, when Adani Enterprises and IRH signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Odisha.

Valued at approximately ₹1.08 lakh crore, or $11.5 billion, the project is expected to become Odisha’s largest foreign direct investment proposal and, according to IHC, India’s largest FDI proposal in the metallurgy sector.

Complete Aluminium Value Chain Planned

The scale of the project goes considerably beyond construction of a single smelter.

The proposed integrated complex will include a 4-million-tonne-per-year alumina refinery, a 2-million-tonne-per-year aluminium smelter, a 4,000-MW captive power plant and a 1-million-tonne-per-year downstream manufacturing park.

This would create an integrated aluminium ecosystem extending from mineral processing and alumina refining to primary aluminium production and downstream manufacturing.

The downstream park is intended to attract manufacturers serving sectors including transport, construction, power, packaging, renewable energy and advanced engineering.

Such an ecosystem could significantly increase the amount of value added within Odisha rather than exporting minerals or basic metal products for processing elsewhere.

Project to Be Developed in Two Phases

IHC says the project will be implemented in two stages.

Phase I is expected to involve approximately ₹66,000 crore, while Phase II would involve a further ₹44,000 crore.

Together, the two stages represent an investment exceeding ₹1 lakh crore.

The next phase of the programme will involve land acquisition, statutory approvals and infrastructure planning involving the joint venture partners and the Odisha government.

More Than 53,000 Jobs Expected

The project is also expected to have a substantial employment impact.

According to IHC, approximately 35,000 jobs could be generated during construction, while mining, alumina refining, aluminium production and downstream manufacturing could support another 18,500 direct jobs once operations begin.

That would bring the total direct employment potential to about 53,500 jobs, excluding additional employment expected across logistics, engineering, maintenance, suppliers and ancillary industries.

Why Odisha Was Chosen

Odisha is already one of India’s most important mineral and metals-producing states and possesses substantial bauxite reserves.

The state has consequently developed a large ecosystem around aluminium, steel, mining, ports and heavy industry.

The proposed Adani–IRH investment seeks to use that resource base to create a more integrated manufacturing chain, covering everything from raw-material processing to high-value aluminium products.

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said when the project was announced that it would help place the state more firmly within the global aluminium supply chain and strengthen value-added manufacturing.

UAE Capital Expands Into Indian Heavy Industry

The proposed aluminium complex also illustrates the changing character of India–UAE economic relations.

Investment flows from the UAE into India have increasingly expanded beyond traditional areas such as energy, real estate and financial services into infrastructure, technology, renewable energy and strategic industrial manufacturing.

IRH specialises in mining and natural-resource investments and describes itself as a mine-to-market platform focused on minerals important to industrial development and the energy transition.

Its partnership with Adani therefore combines UAE investment capital and international resource-sector experience with an Indian conglomerate that already operates across ports, energy, logistics, infrastructure and industrial manufacturing.

Existing Adani–IHC Partnership Expands

The aluminium project also builds upon an existing commercial relationship between Adani and IHC.

IHC said the two groups have already developed partnerships across energy, transmission and artificial intelligence, while another IHC Group company, ePointZero, entered a joint venture with Adani Green Energy earlier in 2026 to develop renewable-energy projects in India.

The Odisha aluminium project therefore represents a major expansion of that relationship into mining, metals and heavy manufacturing.

Odisha–UAE Investment Push Gathers Momentum

The project has also featured prominently during Odisha’s continuing outreach to UAE investors.

During Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s visit to Abu Dhabi in September, the Odisha government held further discussions with UAE investors and reviewed progress on the integrated aluminium project.

News on AIR reported on September 10 that Odisha had proposed sites in Rayagada district for the alumina refinery and Sundargarh district for the aluminium smelter, although final land allocation and statutory approvals remain part of the project-development process.

The aluminium complex is therefore no longer simply an investment proposal announced in isolation. It is becoming one of the flagship projects within a broader Odisha–UAE industrial partnership.

Potentially Transformational for India’s Aluminium Industry

Importently the planned downstream park could encourage domestic production of higher-value aluminium components rather than concentrating solely on primary metal production.

For Odisha, the project offers an opportunity to turn its extensive mineral resources into a much broader manufacturing ecosystem.

For India, it represents another example of large-scale foreign capital being linked to domestic manufacturing and industrial supply chains.

And for the UAE, the investment reflects a growing strategy of deploying long-term capital into strategic sectors of the Indian economy.

The $11.5-billion Adani–IRH aluminium project is therefore significant not simply because of its size, but because it could create one of India’s most integrated aluminium manufacturing ecosystems and strengthen Odisha’s position as a major global metals hub.

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