Odisha government to provide raw materials for Vedanta within 3-4 months

The founder and executive chairman of the London-listed Vedanta Resources, Anil Agarwal, announced on Tuesday that the Odisha government has assured him that they will provide the necessary raw materials to feed Vedanta’s one-million tonne Lanjigarh refinery within three to four months.

The refinery is currently operating at 25 percent of its capacity due to lack of resources. The Odisha government has developed 2-3 deposits working alongside the Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) to provide the necessary bauxite required for the plant, said Agarwal after his meeting with Odisha’s Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik.

According to Agarwal, the CM has also assured that the power issue will be resolved with 15-20 days to allow the company to run the new 1.25 mtpa aluminium smelter at Jharsuguda Special Economic Zone, which is yet to start due to lack of power.

A refinery at Jharsuguda is also running at 25 percent capacity due to lack of raw materials.

Vedanta has invested a total of INR 60,000 crore to set up plants that can produce a total of 20 lakh aluminium. Although the company has set up power plants to produce the 3,600 MW power required to run the plants, there are some clearance issue preventing them from using it. The government has assured that these issues will be resolved soon.