Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL), a unit of the London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc, today sent a notice to the Odisha government, seeking temporary closure of its one-million tonne refinery at Lanjigarh in the Kalahandi district from December 5.
The company attributed the extreme step to the economic unviability of the plant in the absence of assured supply of bauxite.
VAL has invested Rs 5,000 crore in the Lanjigarh plant so far and incurred losses to the tune of Rs 2,500 crore during the past five years of its stunted operation.
The company said running the plant was no longer sustainable “unless the Odisha government finds a solution for bauxite supply”. The notice was sent by VAL Chief Operating Officer Mukesh Kumar. “No alumina refinery can run by importing bauxite, as it is too expensive. We are sourcing bauxite from other states and abroad, while we have an agreement with the state government for the supply of bauxite”, said Kumar.
When contacted, a senior official of the state industry department said it was yet to receive the notice. “We can only respond when we get the notice,” he added.
The closure of the plant is expected to affect the livelihood of 6,500 people, including 550 employed directly, 5,000 engaged indirectly and 1,000 self-employed in and around the plant. The company claimed to have spent Rs 150 crore on the development of the local area and community.
More From This Section
VAL had signed a memorandum of understanding with the state-run Odisha Mining Corporation for the supply of 150 million tonnes of bauxite, which included 78-million tonne reserves from the Niyamgiri hills.
While bauxite mining in the Niyamgiri hills was prohibited by the Union ministry of environment and forests, there was no attempt by the government to supply bauxite from other sources.