Vedanta Resources plans major expansion for Balco

Company plans to expand its capacity of power plant to 2,000 MW besides producing 1 mn tonne of aluminium in Balco

Vedanta Resources, a London Stock Exchange-listed globally diversified metals and mining company, is planning a major expansion in its subsidiary—Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (Balco).

“The group plans to expand the capacity of power plant to 2,000-Mw besides producing 1 million tonne of aluminium in Balco,” Vedanta Resources Chairman Anil Agrawal said. The expansion projects would be taken up once the on-going projects go on stream, he added.

Balco, which has major aluminium facility in Korba district of Chhattisgarh, would become the first plant in the world to produce a million tonne of aluminium from a single facility. The company is presently operating a 245,000 Tonnes aluminium plant and 810-Mw captive power unit.

After the Vedanta Resources acquired 51% stake in Balco, the group went for a major expansion plan in the plant that had 100,000 Tonnes capacity. A new plant with a capacity of 325,000 Tonnes is ready for operation besides a 1200-Mw power plant set up in Balco. Both the plants would generate employment opportunity for about 5000 people.

“We are hopeful that we would soon get the consent to operate for the power plant that would power the new aluminium plant,” Agrawal said. He had a wish to even set up a 2-Million Tonne alumina plant in Chhattisgarh, the Vedanta Chairman said, adding that he had deep sentiment associated with Balco.

When he purchased Balco, Agrawal recalled, he was nothing in the metals and mining industry. “Balco gave me a big credibility and the group prospered to become a name in the industry,” he added.

Despite pumping in more than Rs 8000 crore in Balco for expansion and upgradation, the group had not taken a single penny from the company. “The money that we earned from Balco is spent on the company here itself,” Agrawal said. Even the power produced in Balco would be used by the facilities located here