Vedanta Aluminium, one of India’s premier aluminium producer, is celebrating its extensive collaboration with nearly 60 cutting-edge technology startups, to commemorate the National Startup Day. With a focus on Industry 4.0 technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Natural Language Processing (NLP), Machine Learning (ML), Drone technology, Computer Vision, and Robotics, the company is transforming conventional manufacturing processes.
Vedanta Aluminium, a division of Vedanta Limited, is one of the largest aluminum producer in India, contributing to over half of the country’s aluminum production, amounting to an impressive 2.29 million tonnes in the fiscal year 2023. Renowned for its leadership in value-added aluminum products, Vedanta Aluminium plays a pivotal role in supplying essential materials for core industries.
The company’s commitment to sustainable practices is reflected by its achievements such as securing the 2nd position in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) 2022 world rankings for the aluminum industry.
With state-of-the-art aluminum smelters, an alumina refinery, and power plants situated in India, Vedanta Aluminium actively pursues its mission to drive the adoption of aluminum as the ‘Metal of the Future.’ This forward-looking approach aligns with the company’s vision for a greener tomorrow, emphasizing the pivotal role aluminum plays in emerging applications.
Vedanta Aluminium’s world-class facilities not only cater to the current demands of the aluminum industry but also position the company at the forefront of technological advancements and environmental stewardship. Through its extensive operations, Vedanta Aluminium continues to be a driving force in shaping the future of aluminum, emphasizing its crucial role in sustainable and eco-friendly practices.
As part of the National Startup Day festivities, Vedanta Aluminium hosted a knowledge-sharing session with leading startups. This event showcased the success stories of their collaborative efforts, highlighting the profound impact of emerging technologies on critical operations such as smelters, alumina refinery, power plants, mines, material handling, supply chain, and HSE (Health, Safety, and Environment) practices.
Aligned with the principles of ‘Startup India’ and ‘Make in India,’ this initiative is an integral facet of Vedanta’s innovation program, Vedanta Spark. This unique global corporate innovation, accelerator, and venture program empower startups to create large-scale impact by leveraging transformative technologies to address business challenges at scale.
Under the Vedanta Spark project, Vedanta Aluminium has forged partnerships with deep tech startups for a diverse range of projects. These include predictive and prescriptive analytics for enhancing operational efficiency in smelters, IoT solutions for continuous monitoring of critical production parameters, advanced modeling for quality control of finished goods, startup optimization of power plants, AR/VR/XR simulations for safety training, drone-based surveillance, and many more.
Speaking on the occasion, John Slaven, CEO of Vedanta Aluminium, expressed his enthusiasm for India’s entrepreneurial spirit, stating, “The rise of India’s economy to global prominence is fueled by its youthful dynamism and unwavering entrepreneurial zeal. As India’s largest producer of aluminium, Vedanta Aluminium complements the relentless drive radiating from these startups, leading to collaborative efforts for global excellence.
Mr Slaven further observes, “With aluminium emerging as the cornerstone for a sustainable future, our path to exponential growth relies on being digital-first and future-ready. Therefore, we actively collaborate with tech startups, infusing cutting-edge technologies and global expertise to elevate our manufacturing and operational excellence.”
Reflecting on their collaboration, Raju Yadati, Founder & Director of Glovision Techno Services Pvt Ltd, highlighted their contribution to Vedanta Aluminium’s logistics and transportation optimization, stating, “At Glovision, we build cutting-edge cloud-based IoT applications for Vedanta Aluminium to optimize logistics and transportation, thereby contributing to safer and more productive mining operations. It has been our privilege to work with the company.”
Himanshu Srivastava, Director – Customer Success at ZestIOT, shared insights on deploying deep tech AI/ML algorithms at Vedanta Aluminium’s Jharsuguda smelter operations. He expressed gratitude for Vedanta Aluminium’s mentorship, which has enhanced accuracy and transparency in critical operations.
To foster a culture of innovation and transform employees into intrapreneurs, Vedanta Aluminium has established ‘Innovation Cafés’ across its business units. These vibrant spaces serve as incubators for passion projects, where employees and business partners collaborate to tackle diverse business challenges, pooling internal expertise and producing innovative solutions.
Simultaneously, the company actively nurtures an extensive ecosystem of rural and micro-entrepreneurs in its operational regions. Vedanta Aluminium’s expansive value chain, customer network, and supplier network have not only fostered numerous MSMEs but have also elevated many to the status of valued suppliers and esteemed business partners for the company, helping them become a part of the global value chain.