THEBUSINESSBYTES
BUREAU
BHUBANESWAR,
MARCH 9, 2026
Vedanta Aluminium,
India’s largest producer of aluminium, has announced the deployment of an
all-women team to lead the Distributed Control System (DCS) at its alumina
refinery in Lanjigarh, Odisha. A cohort of 40 trained women professionals will
now steer the refinery’s nerve centre, one of the most technologically complex
and safety-critical areas of plant operations. Introduced on the occasion of
International Women’s Day, this initiative marks a significant leap for women’s
representation in core industrial and process-control roles across India.
The DCS is central to
refinery operations, integrating hundreds of data streams to ensure seamless
control over production workflows. By placing women in this digital command
function, Vedanta Aluminium reinforces its commitment to building an inclusive
industrial workforce. Their role includes real-time monitoring of process
parameters, analysing operational trends, assessing safety alarms, and making
swift decisions to maintain stable, efficient, and safe refinery operations.
Commenting on the
milestone, Rajiv Kumar, CEO, Vedanta Aluminium, said: “At Vedanta Aluminium,
empowering women to lead high-skill industrial roles is not an initiative, it
is our direction as a company. As more women operate command centres, smelters,
locomotives and safety systems, we are shaping a manufacturing ecosystem where
gender is no barrier to excellence. Our long-term ambition of significantly
increasing women’s participation reflects our belief that women will power the
next leap of industrial growth.”
This development
forms part of a broader transformation led by Vedanta Aluminium to expand
opportunities for women in high-skill industrial roles. Anjanee Kumari, one of
the team members, DCS, said, “Working in the command centre gives me the
confidence that women can play a central role in manufacturing. I hope our team
inspires many more young women to pursue careers in engineering and
operations.”
Over the past few
years, the company has commissioned India’s first fully women-operated potline
and deployed more than 100 women across critical smelting and production
functions. It has also introduced the country’s first all-women locomotive
engine crew within its aluminium operations, setting new benchmarks for
inclusion in non-traditional roles. Additionally, Vedanta Aluminium became the
first company in Odisha to introduce women in night shifts.
Strengthening its
focus on safety and emergency readiness, the company has deployed Agnivahini,
an all-women firefighting and emergency-response unit that has trained over 100
women as frontline safety responders, enhancing preparedness and reinforcing a
strong safety culture across its operations.
More recently, the
company established an all-women thermal power operations team to manage a 135
MW power unit, further strengthening its leadership in gender-forward
industrial practices. With a growing number of women now contributing across
quality laboratories, digitalisation functions, and mining engineering roles,
women’s representation in high-technology, high-responsibility roles is
steadily rising across India’s manufacturing sector.
Women currently
constitute 21% of Vedanta Aluminium’s workforce, a figure the company plans to
raise to 35% and then 50% in the coming years. To support this goal, more than
50% of its entry-level hiring now comprises women, ensuring greater
representation in future technical and leadership positions.
As India’s
manufacturing and metals sectors expand to support a more technology-driven and
resource-intensive future, Vedanta Aluminium’s initiatives aim to ensure that
women are not only part of this transformation but are also playing a leading
role in shaping it.
