Asia’s richest man Gautam Adani adds one more business to his rapidly expanding empire as Adani Enterprises plans to invest $5.2 billion in setting up an alumina refinery in Odisha, as reported by news agency Bloomberg on Thursday.
The flagship firm of the Adani Group got the approval to build the refinery and a captive power plant in Rayagada, Odisha, for an investment of Rs 41,653 crore ($5.2 billion), according to a Twitter post by the office of the Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday. According to the report, the refinery will have an annual capacity of 4 million tons.
A representative for Adani Enterprises, however, declined to comment on the Odisha project or the company’s plans for its fledgling aluminium business.
Adani had set up a wholly-owned subsidiary – Mundra Aluminium Ltd. – in December, signalling his aspirations in a sector that is dominated by heavyweights such as the Aditya Birla Group and London-based Vedanta Resources Ltd.
Gautam Adani, with the world’s biggest wealth gain this year to $126 billion, built his empire on agri-trading and ports. He has speedily diversified into airports, data centres and renewable energy, often moving in lockstep with the central government’s policy priorities.
Adani had scaled up his nascent cement business overnight by acquiring Holcim Ltd.’s India units for $10.5 billion in May, less than a year after setting up a cement subsidiary. He is now steadily building up his group’s metals portfolio after announcing plans for steel and copper plants earlier in the year.
In June, Adani Enterprises raised Rs 6,070 crore in a syndicated club loan for a 500,000 tons new copper refinery complex in Gujarat.
The company also announced a tie-up with South Korean steel major Posco in January to explore business opportunities in India, including the setting up of a green steel mill.