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.

Where does the Angul expansion stand?

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.

How will NALCO power the additional smelting capacity?

NALCO estimates that the expansion will require an additional 1,100 megawatts (MW) of power. It has partnered with NLC India Limited to establish an equally owned joint venture for a captive thermal power plant. The proposed configuration comprises four 270 MW units, giving the plant a combined capacity of 1,080 MW. NALCO is also considering integrating 200–250 MW of renewable energy into the project.

How does Damanjodi connect the smelter to the export market?

The fifth production stream at Damanjodi, in Odisha’s Koraput district, is designed to add one million tonnes of annual alumina refining capacity. To help supply the additional bauxite, Odisha granted NALCO a 50-year mining lease at Pottangi in the same district. The company’s mine development plan specifies an annual capacity of 3.5 million tonnes of bauxite.

Damanjodi already serves two destinations by rail. Alumina required for domestic metal production goes to the Angul smelter, while export consignments travel to NALCO’s bulk handling facilities at Visakhapatnam Port in Andhra Pradesh. The port connection also serves the refinery in the opposite direction, receiving imported caustic soda for dispatch inland.

At Visakhapatnam’s inner harbour, NALCO receives alumina in trains of 48 wagons, each with a capacity of 53 tonnes. Two pneumatic unloading stations feed three storage silos with a combined capacity of 75,000 tonnes. The company lists an average shiploading rate of 1,500 tonnes per hour and a maximum of 2,200 tonnes per hour for vessels of up to 40,000 tonnes deadweight.

These facilities give NALCO an established export route for surplus production from the fifth refinery stream. How much alumina it processes domestically over the longer term will also depend on whether it proceeds with the separate greenfield smelter, which remains under evaluation.