Lanjigarh refinery to reopen by June-end

Six months after Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) downed the shutter of its one million tonne alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district, the company now hopes to resume operations of the unit sometime by end of this month, according to a company official.

“We expect to reopen the refinery by this month-end,” VAL’s managing director S K Roongta told journalists after meeting chief secretary Bijay Patnaik here. He said the company will be sourcing bauxite from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

Some raw material would also come from the private miners, he added.

Rungta said the plant had sustained the local economy. The company has given direct and indirect employment to about 7,000 people besides making a large number of people self-employed. “Both the State Government and the local people are keen to reopen the refinery plant,” he said, adding that the Government is doing its best to ensure running of the plant at Lanjigarh.

Sources said Rungta, accompanied by VAL chief operating officer Mukesh Kumar, apprised the Government of its arrangements on availing bauxite from private miners in Gujarat and also opening of group’s Bharat Aluminium Company (Balco’s) Kawardah mines in Chhattisgarh. VAL requires 300,000 tonnes of bauxite every month to operate at full capacity.

Asked about the proposed gram sabha in affected villages of Niyamgiri hills, Rungta said the Government is implementing the orders of the Supreme Court. The Government has already asked the district collectors of Rayagada and Kalahandi to conduct gram sabhas as directed by the apex court.