Sterlite to set up power plant at Tuticorin

Sterlite Industries, a subsidiary of London Stock Exchange-listed Vedanta Resources Plc, is planning to invest around Rs 650 crore to set up a power plant at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu.

Company chief operating officer Ramesh Nair said one of the major challenges for the company at its Tuticorin unit, which manufactures copper smelter, was power. The proposed 2X60 mega watt coal-based plant would not only help the company reduce the dependency but would also bring down the consumption cost.

“In the current scenario (in terms of cost) once the power plant goes on stream, we will be able to save 20 per cent,” said Nair.

On the expansion plan, he said, “the proposed investment of Rs 2,300 crore to double the capacity will continue and we will stick to the commitment, which was made earlier.”

The company would invest the money for increasing the capacity to 2,400 tonnes per day from the current 1,200 tonnes.

“Post-expansion, the company will be one of the largest single-location custom copper smelters in the world with a smelting capacity of 800 kilo tonnes per annum. The smelter will utilise the ISA Smelt technology currently used in the existing smelter at Tuticorin and it will also increase our exports,” said Nair.

At present, of the total production, 40 per cent is exported while the remaining is for domestic markets. Once the expansion plan is complete, 1,200 tonnes per day will be for the domestic market.

The company currently caters to China, West Asia and Southeast Asia. “Going forward “we will look at entering new markets including Africa, Vietnam and also parts of China,” said Nair. Its forex contribution is at about Rs 5,400 crore.

Sterlite is also looking at doubling its manpower at Tuticorin. It employ around 1,200 people directly while 1,500 are contract workers.