Vedanta Aluminium appoints Ravi Paliwal as CEO, Ash Management

Vedanta Aluminium, India's largest aluminium producer, announced the appointment of Ravi Paliwal as CEO of Ash Management. Ravi will oversee ash management operations, focusing on leveraging technology and processes to enhance resource efficiency and explore new avenues for utilising the voluminous by-product of thermal power generation, promoting circular economy avenues. Besides Vedanta Aluminium, Ravi will be responsible for ash management operations of Vedanta's power business (which includes Talwandi Sabo Power Plant, Meenakshi Energy, and Athena) and Hindustan Zinc Limited.

Ravi, a seasoned industry professional with more than 27 years of diverse experience, will bring extensive expertise to Vedanta Aluminium's operations. Before joining Vedanta, he served as the Senior Vice President of Contract, Commercials, and Materials at Bajaj Energy. Before this, he held senior managerial positions at JSW Energy and Nabha Power (Larsen & Toubro). He excels in purchase functions, supply chain management, vendor development, and service contracts.

Sharing his views on the appointment, John Slaven, CEO of Vedanta Aluminium, said, "We welcome Ravi Paliwal onboard as CEO of Ash Management. His rich experience and insights will be key to driving greater excellence in our ash management initiatives. This effort aligns seamlessly with our broader sustainability agenda, which includes developing suitable avenues to generate value from by-products such as fly ash while also moving towards a 30 per cent renewable energy mix by 2030."

On his appointment, Ravi Paliwal, CEO of Ash Management, Vedanta Aluminium, said, "I am excited to lead ash management for Vedanta and look forward to contributing to Vedanta Aluminium's vision of promoting a circular economy and driving sustainability in our operations by exploring new avenues for ash utilisation."

Vedanta Aluminium operates India's largest portfolio of captive power plants, making effective ash management crucial as ash is a primary by-product of thermal power generation. The company is focused on enhancing resource utilisation and exploring innovative applications for ash. For instance, fly ash has significant uses in the cement industry and is commonly used in brick-making and road-laying applications. Vedanta Aluminium has also established partnerships to supply fly ash to leading cement manufacturers to produce low-carbon cement. It is actively seeking other ways to promote a circular economy agenda.

Recognised as the world's most sustainable aluminium producer by the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) 2023, Vedanta Aluminium is deliberately and progressively advancing towards its Net Zero target by 2050 (or sooner). This is done by reducing and offsetting carbon footprint, notably by increasing the quantum of renewables in the energy mix, enhancing manufacturing excellence to ensure higher operational efficiencies, and transitioning to low-carbon energy sources such as biofuels.