Vedanta inks pact with West Bengal for Rs 20k cr projects

Anil Agarwal-controlled Vedanta group today signed a development agreement with the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation (WBIDC) for a Rs 20,000 crore aluminium and power project.

The project entails setting up a 6.5 lakh tonne smelter and a 3,000 mw power plant at Bidhanbagh in the Burdwan district.

The agreement was signed in the presence of West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

The chief minister said that the government would be developing a metals park in the vicinity of the Vedanta project once the smelter and the power plant became operational.

Of the 1,000 acre required for the project, 270 acre is already with the Vedanta group. The land would be acquired by WBIDC.

Agarwal said the government has conveyed that surplus land was available at the right price.

The plant would be operational within three years. He said that 1,500 mw would be for captive use and the balance could be supplied to the metals park.

Alumina for the project would come from Vedanta's Lanjigarh mines in Orissa. Agarwal said the group has decided to locate the project in West Bengal because of the availability of coal.

The project would create direct jobs for 2,500 people. "Indirect impact would be enormous," said Agarwal.

Further, the metal park would create opportunities for the small and medium enterprises.

The Vedanta project is the first large scale aluminium project in the state. Bhattacharjee said, "We want to revive our past glory in steel, aluminium, automobiles and textiles."

The West Bengal government has received proposals worth more than Rs 1,00,000 crore in the steel sector. Tata Motors has also based its Rs 1 lakh small car project in the state.