9DECEMBER 2025VEDANTA ALUMINIUM STRENGTHENS INDIA'S ALUMINA SUPPLY WITH 5 MTPA PLANTAccording to the latest Ericsson Mobility Report released on Thursday, India is predicted to reach 1 billion 5G subscriptions by the end of 2031, propelled by low-cost 5G devices and increasing network availability, despite the fact that it currently holds the highest mobile data usage per smartphone globally.The report states that by the conclusion of 2025, India is projected to have 394 million 5G subscriptions, accounting for 32 percent of the nation's total mobile connections.India's monthly mobile data usage per active smartphone is currently 36 GB--the highest in the world--and is projected to increase to 65 GB per month Vedanta Aluminium has raised its Lanjigarh alumina refinery capacity to 5 million tonnes per year which is a huge leap that makes the overall capacity of India to refine alumina to close to 13 million tonnes per year.The increased plant is currently the largest single location alumina refinery in India, with around 38 percent of the nationwide alumina, and the largest refinery worldwide other than in China.In November the refinery had the highest monthly total by 2031. Nitin Bansal, Managing Director, Ericsson India, pointed out that 5G has emerged as the foundation of digital transformation across the nation.He stated, "The presence of cost-effective 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) customer equipment and elevated data usage by FWA users are driving a surge in data traffic." FWA, providing wireless broadband access to residences and businesses, is becoming a significant 5G application in India.Worldwide, 5G subscriptions are expected to hit 6.4 billion by 2031, representing two-thirds of total mobile subscriptions. Out of these, 4.1 billion are anticipated to be connected to 5G Standalone (SA) networks, which function independently of existing 4G infrastructure and offer advanced capabilities like network slicing. In the meantime, global 6G subscriptions are projected to hit 180 million by 2031. The Ericsson report further emphasizes that by the end of 2025, 5G networks are expected to manage 43 percent of global mobile data traffic, an increase from 34 percent the previous year.This share is projected to increase to 83 percent by 2031. By 2031, Fixed Wireless Access broadband is projected to serve 1.4 billion users worldwide, with 90 percent of these users utilizing 5G technology. production in its history, with 254 kilotons. This was an 8 per cent increase over the last month and 68 per cent increase over the last year, indicating that the operations were better since more material was moved, less power was used and conversion costs were reduced.Rajiv Kumar, CEO of Vedanta Aluminium, emphasized the strategic importance of aluminium for India's industrial growth. "Scaling our Lanjigarh operations to 5 MTPA is both a capacity milestone and a step toward a resilient aluminium value chain," he said, reinforcing the company's focus on long-term value creation.The growth started with a 2million tonne/year green field project, with future increases in capacity in stages beginning in 2020. The CEO of Vedanta Alumina Business, Pranab Kumar Bhattacharyya, emphasized the accuracy, dynamism, and cooperation which saw the project to conception to commissioning.In addition to the development of industry Vedanta Aluminium maintains community programs in education, health, and skills development in the area of Lanjigarh. The capacity enhances the alumina supply chain in India and also aids downstream production, the alumina needed in the infrastructure, automotive, and manufacturing industries, which increases the level of operation and competitiveness in the global market. INDIA MAY HIT 1 BILLION 5G CONNECTIONS BY 2031: ERICSSON INDIA MD
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