Vedanta Aluminium resumes ops on bauxite availability

After being shut for nine days due to lack of bauxite, the alumina refinery of Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) at Lanjigarh in Odisha's Kalahandi district opened on Monday with arrival of some raw material.

"The refinery plant, which was temporarily shut down on October 13, has opened and re-started operations as we have managed to procure bauxite from Chhattisgarh and Gujarat," VAL COO Mukesh Kumar told PTI.

However, it would take two to three days to resume actual production as it involves a gradual process, he said, adding the captive power plant is also being made operational. Stating that the company now had a stock of about 40,000 tonnes of bauxite, Kumar said about 3,000 tonnes of the ore was being received from the Kwardha mines of Balco in Chhattisgarh for the last few days.

In addition, the company is going to receive 90,000 tonnes of bauxite from the Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC), the COO said, adding the first consignment of 45,000 tonnes is expected to arrive in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.

"With this we are hopeful of operating about 50 percent of the one-mtpa capacity refinery plant," he said. The company requires 10,000 MT of bauxite everyday to operate the refinery plant to its full capacity. Negotiations are also being held with exporters and mines owners in Gujarat and Maharashtra for supply of bauxite to the Lanjigarh refinery, Kumar said, adding, "We are making all efforts to keep the plant running."