Vedanta, Hindalco, Adani among industry giants eyeing Odisha's 207 Mt virgin Karlapat bauxite block

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Adani Group, Reliance Industries, Hindalco Industries, Vedanta Aluminium, Naveen Jindal-backed Powercem, and Coal India are among the companies interested in Odisha’s Karlapat-Pollingpadar bauxite block. They are seeking long-term supplies of this key raw material as they prepare for major aluminium capacity expansions. 

Located in Kalahandi district, the Karlapat-Pollingpadar deposit is one of the largest virgin bauxite resources currently available for auction in India. It is among 11 virgin mineral blocks offered by the Odisha government in the current auction round. According to the Directorate of Geology, Government of Odisha, the block contains an estimated 207 million tonnes of bauxite resources, comprising 153 million tonnes of proved reserves and 54 million tonnes of possible reserves.

Spread across a plateau of around 9.6 square kilometres, the deposit has an average ore thickness of nearly 12 metres. Geological data indicate an average alumina content of about 45.2 per cent with low reactive silica, making the ore suitable for alumina production through the Bayer process.

The Odisha government invited bids for the mining block in May this year after an earlier auction process, initiated in July 2021, was delayed because of environmental and legal challenges before the High Court. Karlapat remains a greenfield mining project, with no previous commercial mining activity.

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The block has attracted industry attention at a time when aluminium producers are expanding smelting and alumina capacities while seeking captive bauxite resources to reduce dependence on external supplies. Bauxite is the main commercial ore used to make alumina, the intermediate material for aluminium production. That makes access to high-quality bauxite deposits strategically important for the industry. 

Odisha continues to dominate India’s bauxite resource base. The Indian Bureau of Mines’ Indian Minerals Yearbook 2024 puts the state’s bauxite resources at about 2.06 billion tonnes as of April 1, 2020, including around 410 million tonnes of reserves and 1.65 billion tonnes of remaining resources.  Odisha accounts for about 41 per cent of India's total bauxite resources, with major deposits located across Balangir, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Kendujhar, Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada and Sundargarh districts.

Karlapat ranks among Odisha's largest bauxite deposits. The Directorate of Geology places it alongside Panchpatmali in Koraput (314 million tonnes), Sijimali in Rayagada (245 million tonnes), Gandhamardan in Bolangir-Bargarh (207 million tonnes) and Baphilimali in Rayagada (195 million tonnes). Unlike several of these deposits, which have already been allocated for industrial projects, Karlapat-Pollingpadar has not been tied to any entrepreneur, making it one of the few large undeveloped deposits available for allocation. The Directorate has also identified the deposit as capable of supporting major alumina refinery projects in the state.

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The growing interest in Karlapat reflects the expansion plans announced by India's leading aluminium producers. Vedanta Aluminium currently has an annual aluminium production capacity of 2.5 million tonnes and plans to increase this to 6 million tonnes over the next three years. Hindalco Industries operates 1.4 million tonnes of annual aluminium capacity and is expanding its Aditya Aluminium complex in Odisha by an additional 360,000 tonnes of smelting capacity. State-owned NALCO currently has aluminium production capacity of around 0.5 million tonnes.

Adani Group has also announced plans to invest around USD 11.5 billion in a 2 million tonnes per annum aluminium project in Odisha, making long-term access to captive bauxite resources increasingly important for the proposed development.

Industry observers note that purchasing tender documents does not necessarily indicate that companies will submit final bids. The actual level of competition for the Karlapat block will become clear only after the formal bidding process concludes.