Vedanta's refinery stares at a possible shutdown

Lanjigarh works face acute raw material crunch, employees go to CM Patnaik for help

With Vedanta Aluminium Ltd's (VAL) Lanjigarh refinery battling acute raw material crunch and staring at possible shutdown, the plant employees and local communities have sought chief minister Naveen Patnaik's intervention to overcome the prevailing crisis.

The employees of Lanjigarh refinery and local communities on Saturday called on Patnaik  at his residence here, making a plea to take immediate measures to ensure  raw material security for the one million tonne plant. They also submitted a memorandum to the chief minister on concerns surrounding the refinery and its consequential impact.

“The plant has given employment to more than 3,500 people and an equal amount in indirect services like bauxite transportation and unloading. Since its inception, the plant has improved the economic condition of the people in Rayagada and Bhawanipatna and a large number of people have taken loans from banks to promote their self-entrepreneurship. The suspension of the refinery's expansion project has already impacted a large number of people and if immediate measures are not taken to ensure raw material security for the refinery, it will seriously impact the economic conditions of all the residents of the region”, the memorandum stated.

"After the establishment of VAL's refinery, Kalahandi started to prosper– thousands of localities got employment and livelihood opportunities. The infrastructure developed and educational standards also improved. Also, you may be aware that 70% of the employees engaged at Lanjigarh are from Odisha and nearly 15% population is in the female category”, the memorandum added.

The chief minister assured that he would take the matter forward in consultation with the state chief secretary B K Patnaik.

It may be noted that VAL had served a three-month closure notice to the state government on September 6 this year. Since the company was not alloted any mine in Odisha, it fully depended on external bauxite supplies to keep the refinery operations afloat.