New Belagavi Plant Strengthens Hindalco’s Specialty Alumina Strategy

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Hindalco Industries has commissioned India’s first superfine precipitated aluminium trihydrate, or PPT ATH, plant in Belagavi, Karnataka, adding domestic production of a specialist material used in halogen-free fire-protection applications.

The new facility has initial annual capacity of 30,000 tonnes and is intended to supply growing demand from the wire-and-cable sector, polymer insulators, thermal insulation, composites, paints and electric-vehicle applications. Hindalco says the plant can be expanded to 60,000 tonnes as the domestic market grows. 

Focus on fire-safe cables

Superfine PPT ATH is used as a flame-retardant filler in halogen-free flame-retardant, or HFFR, cables. In a fire, these materials are designed to help slow flame spread and suppress smoke without releasing halogen acid gases.

That makes the product relevant to cable systems used in buildings, transport, power networks and other infrastructure where fire safety is a key consideration. India’s BIS standard IS 17048:2018 for HFFR cables has helped align domestic cable requirements with international safety benchmarks, according to Hindalco. 

Hindalco said the Belagavi plant’s phase-one output is designed to meet almost all current domestic demand for the material from India’s wire-and-cable industry. If realised, that would reduce the sector’s dependence on imported superfine PPT ATH.

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Moving into specialty alumina

The commissioning marks a further move by Hindalco into value-added specialty alumina products, rather than primary aluminium alone.

The company markets the new product under its InnoSafe brand. It says the material will support applications requiring flame retardancy, electrical insulation, thermal management and durability, including next-generation electrical and mobility systems. 

Hindalco already manufactures more than 120 grades of non-metallurgical specialty alumina for industries including refractories, ceramics, railways, batteries, electronics, water treatment and bulk chemicals. The company says it supplies specialty alumina products to more than 1,000 customers across 42 countries. 

Renewable-powered production

Hindalco says the Belagavi superfine PPT ATH facility is powered entirely by renewable energy sourced from biomass, solar and wind. The company describes it as the world’s only specialty alumina plant to operate on 100 per cent renewable power.

The plant is located at Hindalco’s Belagavi alumina refinery, which the company said recorded greenhouse-gas intensity of 0.44 tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent per tonne of alumina on a year-to-date financial-year 2026 basis. 

The renewable-energy claim is significant because energy use is a major factor in the environmental footprint of alumina production. Hindalco’s approach positions the new facility around both supply-chain localisation and lower-carbon specialty materials.

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Domestic materials capability

The investment reflects a wider push to develop domestic capability in materials used in electrical infrastructure, energy storage and electric mobility.

Hindalco managing director Satish Pai said the plant would strengthen the company’s specialty alumina portfolio and support its move up the value chain. Alumina Business chief executive Saurabh Khedekar said domestic production would help reduce import dependence while providing a local source of material for India’s wire-and-cable industry. 

The project’s commercial performance will depend on adoption by cable and industrial-material producers, as well as on demand from infrastructure and EV supply chains. But the facility gives Hindalco a new role in the market for halogen-free, fire-safe materials at a time when safety standards and low-carbon manufacturing are gaining importance.

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