Aditya Birla Group flagship Hindalco Industries plans to invst Rs19,800 crores in the next three years to raise capacity in India.

Speaking at the company's 49th annual general meeting in Mumbai, Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said the company would be executing multi-location expansion programmes aggregating over Rs19,800 crores in the next three years in India.

The expansion of the Muri alumina refinery from 110,000 tpa to 450,000 tpa was in progress and production would reach its full capacity by the end of the year.

Phase II of the Hirakud expansion of the smelting capacity from 100,000 tpa to 143,000 tpa was also on schedule. The power generation capacity had been raised from 267.5 mw to 367.5 mw and all the units had been commissioned.

Aditya Aluminium, the integrated aluminium project, encompassing 1,500 ktpa alumina refinery, 359 ktpa aluminium smelter and 900 MW captive power plant was on course. The company has already executed technology contracts with Alcan. The mechanisation in the refinery is scheduled for completion by January 2013.

The Mahan aluminium project with a smelter capacity of 359 ktpa and 900 mw captive power plant was on track.

The company had been allotted a coal block in a JV with the Essar Power for the coal requirement of the CPP. The technology contract for the smelter had already been executed with Aluminium Pechiney. The first metal from the smelter is expected by July 2011.

Birla added that though the current year had been tough because of hardening of interest rates, volatility in global financial markets and rising inflation the company has performed well despite these challenges.

With the acquisition of Novelis, the company has become the world's largest aluminium rolled products producer. Hindalco has a strong presence in 5 continents.

In 2007, it became the sixth largest aluminium producer in Asia and the eleventh largest in the world in terms of volume and among the top 10 producers of copper in the world by capacity.

During the first quarter of the current financial year, Novelis reported a net income of $25 million which is an improvement over that of the corresponding period of 2007 when Novelis had incurred a net loss of $ 142 million.

The net consolidated revenues were in excess of Rs60,000 crores which reflect a growth of 211 per cent. PBIT at Rs4,835 crores is up by 22 per cent, both over the last year.