Vedanta Aluminium showcases its extensive women development initiatives at ICC INWEC Business Mela 2025
9th May 2025
Bhubaneswar, Odisha, 08 May 2025: Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest producer of aluminium, presented a vivid demonstration of its transformative initiatives for the development of women at the ICC INWEC Business Mela 2025. The event, focused on celebrating women entrepreneurs and leaders across Odisha, was organised here by the Indian National Women Entrepreneurs Council (INWEC) under the aegis of the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC).
Vedanta showcased a diverse range of products designed, developed and marketed by innovative women entrepreneurs from the several Self Help-Group (SHG) projects supported by the company. These include Project Subhalaxmi in Jharsuguda, among Odisha’s largest SHG projects with 5000+ members, Project Sakhi in Lanjigarh with nearly 5000 members and Project Unnati in Chhattisgarh with 5800+ members.
These products reflected the diverse impact of the company’s efforts, featuring Saura art paintings and Dhokra figurines from Kalahandi, Gonkra art paintings and traditional snacks from Korba, and terracotta statues and natural honey from Jharsuguda, all manufactured by the numerous women entrepreneurs supported by Vedanta.
Speaking at the event, Sunil Gupta, COO, Vedanta Aluminium, said, “India’s full potential can only be harnessed if its women are provided with equitable opportunities for progress. At Vedanta Aluminium, we are achieving this by ensuring that our roles are gender agnostic and that all hiring is based on skill and aptitude above any other factors. Further, we are committed to the empowerment of women within our communities by facilitating multiple developmental avenues, such as skill training, entrepreneurship, and access to improved healthcare.”
Three of Vedanta’s women employees were also felicitated at the event for achieving extensive contributions in their respective fields. These included Sindhu Pandre, Head of Operations at the all-women potline in Vedanta’s aluminium smelter in Jharsuguda; Sasmita Samal, Head – Technical Cell; and Bhumika Khare, Lead – Advanced Analytics at the Lanjigarh alumina refinery. Their recognition reflects the diverse employment opportunities increasingly available to women in a largely male-dominated industry.
Vedanta Aluminium has also undertaken several initiatives designed to help women build sustainable livelihoods and become key growth contributors within their local communities. For instance, since its inception in 2008, the Subhalaxmi Cooperative has played a pivotal role in equipping women with industry-relevant skills, providing them with market access, and enhancing their business acumen. It focuses on financial inclusion of women through microfinance loans and easy access to credit. Further, Vedanta Aluminium undertakes regular health camps and menstrual awareness campaigns in rural areas to ensure women have access to suitable healthcare even in the remotest areas of the state. Together, these efforts are enabling women in diverse spheres to take independent charge of their progress.
INWEC was established in 2020 to empower, educate, and elevate women entrepreneurs, with members ranging from industry leaders to small/medium enterprise owners to grassroots changemakers. The event was an ideal platform to highlight the extensive efforts undertaken by Vedanta Aluminium in this regard, both within its operations and across its communities.
About Vedanta Limited:
Vedanta Limited, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited, is one of the world’s leading Oil & Gas and Metals company with significant operations in Oil & Gas, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Copper, Iron Ore, Steel, and Aluminium & Power across India, South Africa and Namibia. For two decades, Vedanta has been contributing significantly to nation building. Governance and sustainable development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety, and environment. Vedanta has put in place a comprehensive framework to be the ESG leader in the natural resources sector. Vedanta is committed to reducing carbon emissions to zero by 2050 or sooner and has pledged $5 billion over the next 10 years to accelerate the transition to net zero operations. Giving back is in the DNA of Vedanta, which is focused on enhancing the lives of local communities. The company’s flagship social impact program, Nand Ghars, have been set up as model anganwadis focused on eradicating child malnutrition, providing education, healthcare, and empowering women with skill development. Under the aegis of the Anil Agarwal Foundation, the umbrella entity for Vedanta’s social initiatives, the Vedanta group has pledged Rs 5000 crore over the next five years on social impact programmes with a thrust on nutrition, women & child development, healthcare, animal welfare, and grass-root level sports. Vedanta and the group companies have been featured in Dow Jones Sustainability Index, and was conferred Frost & Sullivan Sustainability Awards 2020, Golden Peacock Award for excellence in Corporate Governance 2022 and certified as a Great Place to Work 2022. Vedanta Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange.
For more information, please visit www.vedantalimited.com
About Vedanta Aluminium Business:
Vedanta Aluminium, a business of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of aluminium, manufacturing more than half of India’s aluminium i.e., 2.37 million tonnes in FY24. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. Vedanta Aluminium ranks 1st in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment 2023 world rankings for the aluminium industry, a reflection of its leading sustainable development practices. With its world-class aluminium smelters, alumina refinery and power plants in India, the company fulfils its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.
For more information, please log on to www.vedantaaluminium.com
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Disclaimer:
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” – that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “should” or “will.” Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and metals markets including the London Metal Exchange, fluctuations in interest and or exchange rates and metal prices; from future integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional, and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.
