Hindalco ties up with Indian Railways to invest ₹2,000 cr to bring new tech

“We are even more excited to partner Indian railways and the passenger coach manufacturing ecosystem for the ambitious high-speed Vande Bharat trains. An investment of Rs.2,000 crore is planned for the project and technology tie-ups are in place to bring new extrusion and fabrication technologies to India,” Birla said.

Citing Indian railway’s goal of becoming net zero while concurrently doubling freight capacity, the company Birla said is going all out to support the railway’s carbon goals. “We plan to introduce three more designs of freight wagons in the coming months targeting specific end-use applications including bagged cement, and foodgrains,” he added.

Birla further announced that the company is making another ₹2,000 crore investment to establish the first-of-its-kind copper and E-wastes recycling facility. “At present, due to a lack of advanced metal extraction and refining technologies domestically, a substantial volume of e-waste is exported to other nations. Bringing this cutting-edge technology to India marks a transformative step towards offering a tangible solution, aligned with your Company and our nation’s circular economy agenda,” he added.

Hindalco will also be looking to scale up EV manufacturing in India, as the company is working closely with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to co-develop and manufacture critical components like battery enclosures, motor housings, busbars, structural and safety components, lightweight load bodies, etc. “Our projects for battery foils, coated aluminium fins, aerospace grade extrusions are also on track to make Hindalco an ideal partner for multiple industries to support their new product development and make-in-India initiatives,” he said.

Further elaborating on the company’s capital allocation for 2021, Birla highlighted that the company has already in the process of investing $4.63 billion as capital expenditure for Novelis and India’s business. 

“Novelis has growth projects totaling $3.5 billion underway in the US, South Korea, and Brazil to serve the increasing demand for sustainable aluminium products. Hindalco’s India business has ongoing growth projects of around $1.13 billion under execution which include high-growth downstream projects in e-mobility, packaging, building and construction, consumer durables, and resource securitisation,” he added.

Attributing the increase in private capex to the government’s efforts, Birla said, “The government-led push for infrastructure investments and pragmatic policies such as the production-linked incentives scheme, have led to a surge in private capex. As global corporations actively adopt the China+1 strategy, India is well-positioned to play a pivotal role in this story.”

Amid these ongoing organic expansions, the company is continuing to deleverage, with the company’s net debt-to-ebitda (earning before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation) standing well below two times at the end of the fiscal year 2022-23.

Hindalco Industries Ltd.’s net profit in the June quarter fell 40% from a year earlier to ₹2,454 crore as revenues declined. Revenue from operations stood at ₹52,991 crore, a 9% decline from a year earlier. Consolidated Ebitda stood at ₹6,109 crore, and the Ebitda margin at 11%.

Updated: 22 Aug 2023, 06:57 PM IST