A 1.5 mm thick fully dense alumina coating with a composition gradient from 100% Ni-20 wt% Cr at the substrate to 100% alumina on top has been developed on a 316 stainless steel sheet using Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS (TM)). The gradient coatings showed hardness in the range of 1800-2000 Hv, one of the highest reported so far due to high-density layers. During laser deposition, alpha-Al2O3 found to grow along the deposition direction with coarse columnar structure. The inherent advantage of this approach is to control simultaneously both location and composition leading to better interfacial properties of coatings.