Project Monitoring Group for revival of bauxite mining in AP

The state government is also planning to set up industrial nodes at various points

The Centre’s Project Monitoring Group (PMG) will soon take up the issue of stalled process of bauxite mining in Andhra Pradesh, state government officials said here today.

The clearances sought for mining of bauxite ore by the state-owned AP Mining Development Corporation (APMDC) was kept in abeyance under the UPA dispensation after then Union tribal affairs minister and Araku MP V Kishore Chandra Deo opposed the move.

The reversal of stand on bauxite mining came as a big blow to Anrak Aluminium Limited, one of the two companies with whom APMDC had signed the bauxite ore supply agreement in 2007. The company had heavily invested in an aluminium refinery project in Visakhapatnam.

Anil Swarup, chairman of the PMG, who reviewed the status of pending issues of over dozen projects in AP, on Friday told the officials he would take up the matter with relevant authorities in Delhi as the Centre had to take a decision on this issue.

Anrak, a joint venture company floated by Ras Al Khaimah and AP-based Penna group, had started operations by sourcing bauxite ore sourced from places such as Gujarat following the completion of the project last year. The investment proposed to be made into the alumina project by the JV was almost Rs  6,000 crore, according to the officials.

Other pending issues pertaining to Hinduja Power, Jindal Vijayanagar Steel, Petronet L&G, Gangavaram port, SR Steel, Kakinada regasification project, VBC Fertilisers, Mallavaram-Bhilvara-Bhopal gas pipeline project, Gujarat State Petroleum Limited (GSPL)'s Deen Dayal oil and gas fields and AP Paper Mills were also discussed in the meeting, according to the officials.

Earlier in the day, AP industries department secretary JSV Prasad said the government was negotiating with multilateral agencies like the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as well as Government of India for the required funding to develop industrial corridors in the state.