Vedanta Resources Plc eyes new bauxite deposits in Odisha

Vedanta Resources Plc, a London-listed mining giant, would explore new deposits of iron-bauxite in Odisha to feed its Lanjigarh refinery.

The move is seen as initiative by the company to acquire the raw material required for aluminium producing after the Niyamgiri fallout where Vedanta Resources failed to get environment clearances to mine bauxite. The company has a 1 million tonne refinery in Lanjigarh (Odisha).

"In Odisha, there are actually large Bauxite endowments throughout the state that Vedanta can explore," Tom Albanese, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Vedanta Resources Plc, said. He is on a visit to Balco-Korba where the company has a major aluminium facility. Albanese said they would look for those bauxite resources that are not confronting the environment and community challenges. "After identifying such reserves, the company shall demonstrate a positive tract record there and use that (the bauxite reserves) as the bases for the Lanjigarh refinery expansion," he added.

The Vedanta CEO expressed his optimism to see Balco's 1200-Mw power plant going on stream soon. The discussion with Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh was encouraging and he was optimistic to get the licence to start the power plant soon, Albanese said. The power plant would help the company to expand its aluminium production."Once the power plant is commissioned, we will have enough power for the aluminium plant and will be able to produce power for sale," he said, he said, adding that the power would be either for sale in the state or it would be for other states. The power shortage in the country had been emerging as a major problem.

Albanese said he was also hopeful to get required support for developing and mining coal from the captive block it had been allotted.

He said captive coal block was quite important for the company for producing power by mining its own coal rather than importing.

It had been frustrating at the federal level to see that Captive Power Plants (CPPs) had not been given coal necessary to produce power. "We are sitting on coal and we are importing coal," he observed. Unfortunately, they are paying other countries for coal, Albanese said.