Vedanta Aluminium, India’s aluminium producer, has partnered with V-Spark, a manufacturing deep-tech incubator, to accelerate the adoption of advanced technologies across its operations. The collaboration aims to unlock up to Rs 2,100 crore in value through AI, digitalization, and automation solutions.
The announcement was made at MetALverse, an immersive tech showcase held in Jharsuguda, Odisha. The event brought together global technology leaders, emerging startups, and business experts to evaluate and pilot next-generation solutions for Vedanta Aluminium’s operations. Key focus areas include enhanced plant productivity, cost optimization, asset reliability, and sustainability initiatives.
V-Spark will act as a bridge between deep-tech innovation and real-world industrial deployment, identifying high-impact technologies, validating them in live operating environments, and accelerating their adoption. Vedanta Aluminium operates one of the world’s largest single-location aluminium plants in Jharsuguda, Odisha, and a substantial alumina refinery in Lanjigarh, Odisha.
The initiative will deploy innovative technologies across Vedanta Aluminium’s integrated value chain. Collaborations include partnerships with OpenAI for generative AI and intelligent agents, Microsoft for cloud, AI, and enterprise transformation, and SAP for integrated enterprise processes. Additional partners include AVEVA for industrial data, digital twins, and advanced analytics; Rockwell Automation for smart manufacturing and control systems; Thoughtworks for digital engineering; and Fives for aluminium process technologies and carbon plant optimization.
Deep-tech startups driving Vedanta’s digital revolution
Deep-tech startups play a key role in this transformation. Vedanta Aluminium is collaborating with Ripik.AI for industrial vision and process optimization, XYMA for high-temperature asset monitoring, Faclon for industrial intelligence and connected manufacturing, DesignX for AI-enabled factory workflows, DigitalPaani for industrial water optimization, AutoVRse for immersive workforce training, Enmovil for AI-led logistics, and ideaForge for drone-based industrial intelligence.
Presently, Vedanta Aluminium is collaborating with nearly 70 startups under the V-Spark program, spanning operations at one of the world’s largest alumina refineries in Lanjigarh, Odisha, the world’s largest single-location aluminium plant in Jharsuguda, Odisha, and India’s iconic aluminium producer, BALCO in Korba, Chhattisgarh.
Akarsh Hebbar, Non-Executive Vice Chairman of Vedanta Aluminium and Chairman of V-Spark DeepTech Ventures, stated, “The greatest opportunity in industrial innovation lies in deploying new technologies at scale to create measurable business value. We aim to partner with several industrial solutions to scale and transform creative innovation into tangible productivity gains, stronger sustainability, enhanced reliability, and significant value creation.”
Priya Agarwal Hebbar, Non-Executive Director of Vedanta Limited and Chairperson of Hindustan Zinc, said, “The future will belong to companies that combine scale with intelligence, sustainability, and the courage to rethink what is possible. At Vedanta Aluminium, we see AI as a catalyst for that transformation, with human intelligence providing the judgment and direction behind it. We are bringing together the best minds across industry and technology because we don’t want to simply make today’s plants better. We want to build the metal of the future, using the technologies of the future.”
Pinak Dattaray, Founder & CEO of Ripik.AI, noted, “AI is creating new opportunities for industrial organizations to transform how knowledge is accessed, decisions are made, and operations are managed. At Ripik.AI, we are focused on making advanced AI capabilities accessible through tools that help people and organizations solve complex problems and work more effectively. We are excited to collaborate with Vedanta Aluminium as it explores new applications of AI across its business.”
AI, automation, and sustainability fueling future plants
The collaborations will focus on technical evaluation, data integration, pilot deployment, and scale-up potential. Through the V-Spark innovation ecosystem, Vedanta Aluminium aims to rapidly validate and deploy solutions that strengthen productivity, safety, sustainability, asset reliability, and operational decision-making.
Sustainability remains a core objective of this initiative. The technologies being deployed will support Vedanta’s environmental goals, including reduced emissions and more efficient resource use.
This initiative marks a significant step forward for India’s metals and mining industry, demonstrating how advanced technologies can be applied in large-scale manufacturing environments.
