National Aluminum Company Limited, known as NALCO, a government-owned aluminum producer headquartered in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, signed a technology licensing agreement with Emirates Global Aluminum, headquartered in Abu Dhabi, to expand its smelter at Angul, Odisha, according to Business Standard. The companies signed the deal on September 7, 2026.
Under the agreement, Emirates Global Aluminum will license its DX+ Ultra smelting technology to NALCO and provide know-how, designs, technical information and support during construction. NALCO describes DX+ Ultra as a high-amperage technology built for higher output and better energy performance. The deal covers a brownfield expansion at Angul of 0.5 million tonnes a year, which would bring NALCO’s total smelting capacity to one million tons a year.
NALCO and EGA officials at the signing of a technology licensing agreement for NALCO’s Angul, Odisha smelter expansion, Dubai, September 7, 2026. Source: NALCO press release.
NALCO is a “Navratna” central public sector enterprise under India’s Ministry of Mines, with the government of India holding a 51% stake; Emirates Global Aluminium is jointly owned by Mubadala Investment Company and the Investment Corporation of Dubai, each holding half the company, and runs about 7,000 employees across a combined production capacity of 2.34 million tons a year. Brijendra Pratap Singh, NALCO’s chairman and managing director, and Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Emirates Global Aluminium’s chief executive, signed the agreement along with other executives from both companies.
The agreement came ahead of a three-day investment trip to the United Arab Emirates by Odisha’s chief minister, Mohan Charan Majhi, according to Business Standard.
Why it Matters
For American executives, the deal is a reminder that India’s state-owned industrial companies are actively importing process technology from outside the country to modernize plants and add capacity, rather than developing every capability in-house.
Last updated: September 9th, 2026
