Vedanta to revive Lanjigarh refinery

Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) hopes to revive operations at its Lanjigarh alumina refinery, 550 km from here in Kalahandi district, in a week. It is making efforts to build bauxite stocks of 100,000 tonnes, from private mining companies in other states.

The first such consignment of 35,000 tonnes, from a Gujarat-based supplier, was unloaded on Tuesday at Visakhapatnam port and is expected to reach the refinery in four to five days.

“Some private miners in Jharkhand have also committed us supplies. In four-five days, we believe we will be able to pile up 100,000 tonnes and restart refinery operations in a week. VAL will operate it at 60-65 per cent capacity,” said a top company official.

The 1-million tonne refinery has been shut since December 5 last year, for lack of bauxite. VAL was also trying to get this from group firm Bharat Aluminium Company’s (Balco) Kawardah mines in Chhattisgarh; the plan was for 120,000 tonnes of supply every month.

However, transportation of bauxite from these mines has been held up due to royalty issues, on which a case is pending in the Chhattisgarh high court. “If the court gives permission, we will have no problems in getting supplies,” the official said. VAL is also looking at imports to keep the refinery operations afloat, from Indonesia, Tanzania and Australia.

“Most exporters have already tied up contracts till the end of December and have informed us that they will be able to ensure supplies only from 2014. However, we are trying to clinch a deal with a few exporters to ensure supplies from October,” said the official. By prevalent prices, bauxite imports will cost VAL around Rs 3,700 a tonne. Sourcing bauxite from Gujarat costs Rs 2,500-2,600 a tonne.

Earlier, VAL had urged the state government to expedite processing of the pending applications of Odisha Mining Corporation, also owned by the state, especially bauxite leases in non-forest areas. These applications are pending at various levels.