Vedanta seeks extension of aluminium SEZ

Aiming to ramp up capacity of the idle aluminium smelter lying within its product specific Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Vedanta has sought extension of the formal approval for the SEZ beyond May 22 this year.

The Board of Approvals (BoA) under Union commerce and industry ministry will consider Vedanta's case for extension at its ensuing meeting on April 28. The development commissioner at Falta SEZ has already recommended Vedanta's case for extension.

The SEZ meant for manufacture and export of aluminium, is located at Bhurkamunda village near Jharsuguda, close to the site of its standalone aluminium smelting facility. Formal approval to the SEZ was granted on May 22, 2007 and since then, it has been granted six extensions.

The board had approved the establishment of the 1.25 million tonne per annum (mtpa) aluminium smelter at an estimated cost of INR 14500 crore.

The SEZ has already started trial run production and currently running with less than 10 per cent of rated capacity. The company used to get raw material and consumables procured from domestic as well as foreign market.

Vedanta, however, has kicked off the ramp up of the SEZ smelter. It aims to commission two potlines of the smelter, achieving a capacity of 0.6 mtpa by the end of this fiscal.

Vedanta owns two aluminium smelting facilities at Jharsuguda. While the standalone smelter of 0.5 million tonne per annum (mtpa) is running at full capacity, the other smelting unit of 1.25 mtpa capacity, within its product specific SEZ, was running at depleted capacity for want of power.

The company has already invested INR 13,000 crore on the smelter complex at Jharsuguda. Commissioning of the SEZ facility promised to boost the local economy by generating business potential worth INR 15,000 crore every year. Direct and indirect employment opportunities for nearly 12,000 persons are set to be created.

In 2015-16, Vedanta logged four-fold jump in aluminium production at its second smelter from 19000 tonne to 76,000 tonne. Vedanta's overall aluminium output moved up five per cent from 0.87 million tonne (mt) to 0.92 mt by the end of 2015-16.