Vedanta's Lanjigarh refinery might reopen this month

The refinery has been shut since Dec 5

After lying idle for over six months, Vedanta’s one million tonne alumina refinery at Lanjigarh is gearing up to resume operations by the end of this month on hopes of bauxite supplies from private miners in Gujarat and also opening of group firm Bharat Aluminum Company (Balco’s) Kawardah mines in Chhattisgarh.

Vedanta Aluminium Ltd’s (VAL) refinery has been shut since December 5 last year on bauxite unavailability, putting at stake livelihood of thousands of families dependent on the plant. The company has been making frenzied efforts to source the raw material from alternative sources.

“In the next three weeks, we are hopeful of restarting the refinery plant. We will operate the refinery at maximum capacity of 60 per cent. Some private miners in Gujarat have assured us around 70,000 tonne of bauxite supplies for this month. Moreover, Balco’s Kawardah bauxite mine is going to reopen in 10 days. The mine will ensure continuous supply of bauxite to the tune of 120,000 tonne every month. We are making best efforts to bring bauxite in next 10-15 days. We are also in talks with Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) but nothing has fructified as of now,” said a company source.

To operate at full capacity, VAL needed 300,000 tonnes of bauxite every month.

More than 1,000 locals today gathered at the main gate of VAL refinery, demanding restart of the plant. They also submitted a memorandum to Mukesh Kumar, president and chief operating officer of VAL-Lanjigarh.

Assuring to restart the refinery soon, Kumar said, “I am aware that after closure of the refinery, the economy of Lanjigarh and its nearby area has been adversely impacted. Lots of people have lost their livelihood. However, we are trying all possible steps to restart the plant at partial capacity by sourcing bauxite from neighbouring states and Gujarat.”

“Many people have developed economically after the plant was set up. People have taken loans to buy vehicles and to do other business. The state government and the Centre must take immediate measures to restart the plant,” said Chandra Behera, president of Lanjigarh Truck Owners’ Association.

Hundreds of people including womenfolk under the banner of Lanjigarh Anchalika Bikash Parishad staged demonstration in front of the plant gate.

“We want the plant should operate for the development of the area as well as for the benefit of the local people,” said its president Sridhara Pesnia.

Local agitation assumes significance as the state government has already written to collectors of Rayagada and Kalahandi to initiate the process for holding gram sabha meetings in 12 villages on Niyamgiri hill slopes as per the April 18 direction of the Supreme Court. The gram sabhas would decide the fate of bauxite excavation there. Extraction of bauxite from Niyamgiri hills was crucial for VAL’s alumina refinery.

“We have asked the villagers to file their objections before the forest committees before holding the gram sabha. We have distributed the format to the villagers,” said Rayagada collector Sashi Bhusana Padhy.