Jharsuguda: Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest aluminium producer, in collaboration with V-Spark, India’s largest manufacturing deeptech incubator, recently hosted MetALverse, an immersive tech showcase in Jharsuguda, Odisha. The company also announced partnerships with several cutting-edge technology providers ,including market leaders such as OpenAI, Microsoft and SAP. Together, they will deploy innovative, multi-pronged solutions to cumulatively unlock up to ₹2,100 crore in value through the enhanced adoption of AI, digitalisation and automation technologies across Vedanta Aluminium’s operations.
Vedanta Aluminium’s MetALverse event was envisioned as a strategic platform to accelerate the deployment of breakthrough technologies across large-scale industrial operations, by bringing together global technology leaders, emerging startups, and top business experts. The partnerships will focus on evaluating, piloting and scaling next-generation solutions across Vedanta Aluminium’s operations. The value opportunity of ₹2,100 crore will be achieved through the integration of innovative solutions for enhanced plant productivity, cost optimisation, asset reliability and sustainability initiatives across Vedanta Aluminium’s integrated value chain.
The event reflects a shared vision between Vedanta Aluminium and V-Spark to bridge the gap between groundbreaking deeptech innovation and real-world deployment, by identifying high-impact technologies, validating them in live operating environments and accelerating their adoption. Vedanta Aluminium has already established a fully integrated value chain that ranges from mining to alumina refining to aluminium production. By leveraging the company’s vast, cutting-edge manufacturing plants- some of which are amongst the largest in the world – as amegaincubation environment, V-Spark aims to rapidly transform promising innovations into industry-ready deployments while also co-creating a robust AI-led manufacturing ecosystem.
Priya Agarwal Hebbar, Non-Executive Director, Vedanta Limited and Chairperson, Hindustan Zinc, said “India’s manufacturing sector is entering a defining decade. 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 judgement 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.”
Akarsh Hebbar, Non-Executive Vice Chairman, Vedanta Aluminium and Chairman, V-Spark DeepTechVentures, said “The greatest opportunity in industrial innovation lies in deploying new technologies at scale to create measurable business value. Vedanta Aluminium, as one of the top producers of the metal of the future globally, provides the expansive operating footprint, technical depth and determination to industrialise breakthrough solutions, while V-Spark is the engine that identifies, validates and accelerates these technologies from concept to enterprise-wide deployment. 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.”
Pinak Dattaray, Founder & CEO, Ripik.AI, said “AI is creating new opportunities for industrial organisations 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 organisations 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. The company demonstrates how leading manufacturers can combine deep operational expertise with cutting-edge AI to unlock innovation, improve performance and create meaningful value at scale.”
At MetALverse, Vedanta Aluminium announced collaborations with several top technology companies and emerging innovators to accelerate AI-led transformation across its operations. The identified partners include OpenAI for generative AI and intelligent agents; Microsoft for cloud, AI and enterprise transformation; SAP for integrated enterprise processes; 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 optimisation. The company has also partnered with deep-tech innovators including Ripik.AI for industrial vision and process optimisation; XYMA for high-temperature asset monitoring; Faclon for industrial intelligence and connected manufacturing; DesignX for AI-enabled factory workflows; DigitalPaani for industrial water optimisation; AutoVRse for immersive workforce training; Enmovil for AI-led logistics; and ideaForge for drone-based industrial intelligence.
These collaborations will focus on technical evaluation, data integration, pilot deployment and scale-up potential. Through its V-Spark innovation ecosystem, the company aims to rapidly validate and deploy solutions that strengthen productivity, safety, sustainability, asset reliability and operational decision-making. Presently, Vedanta Aluminium is actively collaborating with nearly 70 startups under the program, spanning 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.
