Vedanta Deploys ₹21,000 Crore for Automotive Metals and EV Minerals

Vedanta Group has committed more than ₹21,000 crore through fiscal year 2026 across capital projects dedicated to metal production and capacity expansion. The capital deployment spans primary aluminium, zinc, value-added alloys, copper, steel, nickel, and ferrochrome, targeting materials required for India's accelerating electric vehicle sector and broader automotive manufacturing ecosystem.

The investment push comes as India, currently the world's third-largest automobile market by sales and production, seeks to reduce its dependency on imported critical minerals. India presently imports over 80 percent of its critical mineral requirements, while official projections indicate domestic demand for critical minerals and rare earth elements could expand fourfold to tenfold by 2047 as electric vehicle adoption increases nationwide.

To address severe import vulnerability across advanced manufacturing sectors, Vedanta has secured exploration and mining rights for 10 critical mineral blocks across India, representing the largest portfolio awarded to a single commercial entity. The assigned blocks contain strategic mineral deposits including copper, nickel-chromium-platinum group elements, tungsten, graphite, vanadium, rare earth elements, and potash.

Active field exploration is already underway across five of these critical mineral blocks. The natural resources group aims to establish domestic extraction, refining, and processing pathways for inputs used in vehicle structural safety components, lightweighting assemblies, power electronics, battery chemistry, and electric motor components, establishing localized access to raw materials.

In the primary metals division, Vedanta Aluminium Metal Limited achieved a record annual output of 24.5 lakh tonnes of aluminium during fiscal year 2026. The enterprise is directing expansion capital into its operating facilities at Jharsuguda in Odisha and Bharat Aluminium Company in Chhattisgarh to scale up smelting output and value-added alloy processing for automotive and electrical applications.

Structural weight reduction remains a central engineering priority for electric vehicle manufacturers seeking to extend battery driving range. To meet specific OEM requirements, Vedanta launched specialized metallurgical products, including a Copper-Doped Alloy for high-performance automotive parts and the Vedanta Foundry Alloy developed in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi under its Primary Foundry Alloy line. The company is also supplying low-carbon aluminium variants branded as Restora and Restora Ultra to assist carmakers in reducing Scope 3 supply chain emissions.

Electric vehicles require three to four times more copper than conventional internal combustion engine automobiles, driving increased material demand across motor windings, high-voltage wiring, power distribution systems, and charging infrastructure. Supporting these downstream applications, Vedanta Limited recorded a peak cathode output of 170 kilotonnes in fiscal year 2026, while advancing investments in a dedicated Copper Rod Plant located in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Concurrently, Vedanta operates as India's sole primary producer of refined nickel, providing direct domestic access to a mineral integral to lithium-ion battery cathode chemistry. By pairing primary nickel production with expanded copper cathode and rod output, the group is positioning its industrial operations to support high-voltage power components and cell manufacturing.

Through subsidiary Hindustan Zinc Limited, the world's largest integrated zinc producer and India's sole primary silver maker, Vedanta produced 851 kilotonnes of refined zinc and 627 tonnes of saleable silver during fiscal year 2026. The subsidiary supplies specialized automotive zinc alloys for anti-corrosion body coatings and has commercialized EcoZen, a low-carbon zinc product adopted by industrial customers including Tata Steel and Silox India.

Beyond conventional metallurgical supply, Vedanta is backing research into alternative energy storage formats. The company has established joint development partnerships with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras and the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research to engineer sustainable zinc-based battery technologies for commercial energy storage and mobility applications.

Commenting on the scope of the multi-metal capital deployment, Arun Misra, Chief Executive Officer of Vedanta Group, highlighted the strategic imperative of establishing localized mineral refining networks to support national transportation policy.

"As EV adoption accelerates, the strength of India's journey will increasingly depend on its ability to secure reliable access to the metals and critical minerals that underpin vehicles, batteries and charging infrastructure. Building these capabilities domestically will be essential to creating supply chains capable of supporting India's long-term mobility ambitions. At Vedanta, we are investing across this opportunity through our presence in key metals, while building capabilities in critical minerals. We are expanding our role across the resource base that will support the next generation of mobility and battery value chains," Misra said.

Exploration activities across Vedanta's remaining five critical mineral blocks are scheduled to progress through subsequent operational quarters, while smelting and value-added expansion projects at Jharsuguda and BALCO move toward commercial operationalization. Additional operational benchmarks include scaling output at the Saudi Arabian copper rod unit and advancing laboratory testing on zinc-based battery prototypes alongside academic research partners.