India approves allocation of bauxite block to Odisha Mining

BHUBANESWAR, India (Reuters) - India has approved a proposal from Odisha to allocate a bauxite deposit with reserves of over 150 million tonnes to the state mining company, a move likely to help companies like Sesa Sterlite Ltd that are banking on the raw material to fire their aluminium smelters in the state.

In a parliament response on Tuesday, junior steel and mines minister Vishnu Deo Sai said the proposal to allocate the Karlapat bauxite deposit to Odisha Mining Corp (OMC) had been approved and conveyed to the state government.

OMC, which has bauxite mining joint ventures with companies including Vedanta and Hindalco Industries Ltd , last month scrapped its joint venture with global mining giant Rio Tinto to focus its efforts on mining independently.

A senior Sesa Sterlite executive, who did not want to be named, said the approval would lead to more bauxite availability within the state which was good news for the aluminium industry as a whole.

(Reporting by Jatindra Dash in Bhubaneswar; Writing by Aman Shah in Mumbai; Editing by Sunil Nair)