Green norms, tribal tension risk bauxite mining industry's growth: Fitch

In spite of positive outlook for the country's bauxite mining industry, tightening environmental regulations and tribal tensions pose downside risks by slowing new projects, Fitch Solutions said.

India's bauxite output growth will accelerate to serve growing demand from the domestic aluminium industry, Fitch Solutions Macro Research (a unit of Fitch Group) said in its report.

"We forecast Indian bauxite production to grow from 30.9 mt (million tonne) in 2018 to 50.7 mt by 2027....tightening environmental regulations and tribal tensions pose downside risks..." it said.

In February last year, the Odisha government had approved long-term linkage (LTL) policy for bauxite.

The state Cabinet had approved amendment of the LTL policy to specify detailed guidelines for bauxite linkage.

Elaborating on the salient features of the amended LTL policy as approved by the government for linkage of bauxite, the government had said that 70 per cent of the saleable stock of bauxite would be made available for long-term linkage, and the balance 30 per cent would be sold through national e-auction.