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Business Standard

₹8,000 crore India capex on cards for FY26: Hindalco's Satish Pai

Hindalco Industries, the metal flagship of Aditya Birla Group, posted a 66.4 per cent year-on-year jump in consolidated net profit to ₹5,283 crore for the quarter ended March 2025, buoyed up by easing input costs and strong performance in its India operations. Its Managing Director Satish Pai, in conversation with Roshni Shekhar and Dev Chatterjee in Mumbai, talks about the company's capital expenditure (capex) and the listing plans of Hindalco's US-based subsidiary, Novelis. Edited excerpts: Hindalco ended the January–March quarter (Q4) with better-than-expected results. What drove the company's profitability? Our strong upstream business remains a key contributor, but the diversified product mix is now adding sizeable value. We have specialty alumina, downstream aluminium, downstream copper, and even electric vehicle (EV) battery frame production — 10,000 units were just delivered in Chakan. In Q4, upstream performance was strong, and downstream growth layered on top of that. Looking ahead to 2025–26, we'll be commissioning a 160-kilotonne expansion in Odisha, fully wrapping up the Silvassa plant this year, and completing projects like the copper inner grooved tube plant in Baroda and the aluminium air-conditioning refill plant in Taloja. These value-added products will further enhance our results. With the stock markets turning around, what is the status of Novelis' initial public offering (IPO)? The current focus for Novelis is to complete its existing project and get it commissioned. We also aim to consistently achieve performance levels of $500 per tonne. Once we meet these two goals, we will consider moving ahead with the IPO. How will the US tariffs imposed by the Donald Trump administration impact Hindalco and Novelis' global operations? There's nothing new to add since the last update, as the tariff situation remains uncertain. For Hindalco India, there's no impact. As for Novelis, the impact is relatively neutral. However, we were hoping for a resolution between the US and Canada, especially since our Canadian plant exports about 80,000 tonnes of products to the US. The continued Canadian tariffs pose a potential negative if not resolved soon. What are Hindalco's capex plans in India and overseas? In India, we plan to spend around ₹8,000 crore in the ongoing financial year (2025–26). For Novelis, this will be a peak capex year with around $2.4 billion, mainly for the Bay Minette project. We also have investments lined up for upstream projects — alumina refinery, copper recycling, aluminium smelter expansion, and copper smelter — with a total investment plan of around ₹45,000 crore in these areas over the next few years. How is the demand outlook for Hindalco's products in India? Demand is strong across all segments. We see robust demand in sectors like industrial, electrification, and packaging. In the automotive sector, our focus is primarily on EVs, which are also performing well.