Vedanta asks Orissa to provide alternative mines

By Nalini Sahu
Bhubaneswar, Sept. 8: Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Vedanta Alumina Limited, Dr Mukesh Kumar, on Wednesday urged the Orissa to provide “alternative” bauxite mines for the company’s 1-million-tonne refinery at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district.
Dr Kumar, who met the state steel and mines minister Raghunath Mohanty at the secretariat here, requested the latter to expedite the public hearing process for the seven bauxite mines it has applied for.
“I requested the minister to take necessary steps for expediting the public hearing process as well as completing other formalities to allot alternative mines to feed the Lanjigarh refinery. He has assured us to do the needful,” Dr Kumar said.
Steel and mines minister Mr Mohanty said the state government had to follow several procedures before recommending allotment of any bauxite deposit in favour of Vedanta.
“There are several applicants for the seven bauxite deposits Vedanta Alumina Limited (VAL) has applied for. In accordance with the Central laws, they state government has to follow several procedures before recommending prospecting lease (PL) and mining lease (ML) in favour of Vedanta. It will certainly take quite some time,” the minister told reporter after his meeting with Dr Kumar.
After the Union ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) refused permission for mining of bauxite at Niyamgiri, Vedanta is now scouting for alternative sources. Of the 150 million tonnes bauxite VAL requires for its plant over a period of 25 years, Niyamgiri has an enviable deposit of 78 million tonnes. The other mines for which VAL has applied for include Siadimal, Badamaribhata, Kutumal-Kashmir and Kutamal in Rayagada district and Rampur in Kalahandi district. This apart, Sterlite Industries India Limited (SIIL), the metal and mining arm of Vedanta Resources, has applied for Karlapat-Salpara-Jilagaon bauxite deposits in Kalahandi district.
These smaller mines, if allotted in favour of VAL, can feed its refinery for quite some time as the 1-million-tonne per annum capacity plant needs at least 3 million tonnes of bauxite per year. The per annum requirement will go up once the plant capacity, as approved by the state government, is enhanced to 6 million tones.