Aditya Birla Group owned Hindalco Industries has planned big investment worth INR 500-700 crore on de-bottlenecking its Utkal alumina refinery project in Odisha's Rayagada district. The company has now applied for clearance up to 2.25 mtpa from 1.5 mtpa for its Utkal alumina refinery.
During the recent conference call after its 3rd quarter results, Satish Pai, managing director of Hindalco said, “...I think in 2017-18 we would have got the complete engineering and the de-bottlenecking sorted out.”
“ So, really it is a question of whether you put in a completely new train or just de-bottlenecking and to be clear, our preference right now is to de-bottleneck and that is why we have applied for clearances to go up to about 2.25 (million tonne) as a first range.”
The de-bottlenecking on alumina refinery is projected to be complete in one and half year. The company's captive Baphlimali bauxite mines supplies reserves to the alumina refinery. The ample amount of reserves can fed the refinery for 25 years once the production started.
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Utkal Alumina International Ltd has increased its production eight per cent year-on-year to reach 393,000 tonne in the December quarter.
The refinery is producing at its installed capacity and has secured its place as one of the lowest cost refineries of the world. Utkal’s EBITDA stands at INR 140 crore during the December quarter.
Pai said: "Utkal today is a world class asset and our captive alumina bagged by captive bauxite is proving to be a great strength. We believe that operational improvements ensure that better performance will be sustained in the coming quarters."
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