China Aluminium Network
Bauxite buys from open market adding to costs, says SK Roongta, MD, Vedanta Aluminum
Edited by : AL CIRCLE
1 min read
Metal tycoon Anil Agarwal committed to invest about Rs 60,000 crore for building Vedanta Aluminum - the aim was for a 2.4 mt plant which is almost equal to the total aluminum consumed in India. But a ban on bauxite mining and government denial to expand its alumina refinery, have upset Vedanta's plans.
To make matters worse, rising energy costs and a slowing demand have also led the unlisted VAL to post a $25-million loss in the September quarter. VAL MD SK Roongta , who has come in from SAIL after spending close to four decades with the steelmaker, tells ET the company is now close to getting alternate supplies of bauxite and will apply afresh for the refinery expansion to grow the aluminum business.
We set up the alumina refinery at Lanjigarh based on the assurance and an MoU that bauxite would be made available to us by Odisha Mining Corporation. Unfortunately we are still awaiting resolution of environment and legal issues. As a result, we have to buy bauxite from the open market from places as far as Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, which has resulted in significant logistics costs.
To make matters worse, rising energy costs and a slowing demand have also led the unlisted VAL to post a $25-million loss in the September quarter. VAL MD SK Roongta , who has come in from SAIL after spending close to four decades with the steelmaker, tells ET the company is now close to getting alternate supplies of bauxite and will apply afresh for the refinery expansion to grow the aluminum business.
We set up the alumina refinery at Lanjigarh based on the assurance and an MoU that bauxite would be made available to us by Odisha Mining Corporation. Unfortunately we are still awaiting resolution of environment and legal issues. As a result, we have to buy bauxite from the open market from places as far as Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, which has resulted in significant logistics costs.
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