Signature campaign seeks restarting of Vedanta refinery

Vedanta Aluminium Limited has once again requested the State Government to ensure bauxite supply to its Lanjigarh facilities in Kalahandi district which has been shut down due to non-availability of raw materials.

“You are aware that the closure of refinery since December 5, 2012 has impacted the overall economy of the region as thousands of people have become jobless,” president and Chief Operating Officer of VAL Mukesh Kumar said in a recent letter to the Steel and Mines Secretary.

Requesting for supply of bauxite to the refinery, Kumar reminded the agreement between VAL and the State Government on June 7, 2003 and the amendment made to the MoU on April 4, 2007 for raw material linkage to the facility.

The company, which has been persistently pleading with the State Government to make arrangement of bauxite from alternative sources, had made a presentation before the inter-ministerial group working on raw material linkage to mineral-based industries in the State on a sustainable manner on February 15.

VAL had given various options including revival of bauxite mines which were once operated but lying idle now to the inter-ministerial committee. The company officials had also suggested to expedite processing of pending applications of OMC, especially those bauxite leases falling under non-forest areas.

VAL sources said 7-8 bauxite mines that operated years back can be revived as no permission will be necessary. There are also a number of mines where exploration and other technicalities have been completed.

These mines can be operated within a short period. Besides, the Odisha Mining Corporation has filed applications for several bauxite mines, the sources said.

VAL stopped operation of its 1 mtpa capacity refinery on December 5 last year due to scarcity of bauxite.