Vedanta Resources Plc today said it plans to raise capacity of its Lanjigarh Alumina refinery to 6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) with an investment of Rs 10,000 crore.

Talking to reporters after meeting Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Vedanta Resources chairman Anil Agarwal said doubling of the present plant capacity to 2 mtpa would be done within a year of getting all the clearances.

Ramping up the capacity further to 6 mtpa would depend upon the availability of bauxite, a key raw material for making alumina, he said, adding that the company would be investing Rs 10,000 crore for the capacity expansion.

Vedanta, which had set up 1 mtpa refinery plant at Lanjigarh in Odisha’s Kalahandi district seven years ago, had been facing an acute shortage of bauxite and presently importing the raw materials from other states and countries to feed its plant. The company had to shut down the plant for some months due to shortage of bauxite in 2012.

The company’s concern for the raw material had been compounded after Odisha government’s plan to start bauxite mining from Niyamgiri Hills failed. “We have been getting bauxite from other countries and other Indian states like Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand,” he said.

In its bid to overcome bauxite crisis, the company has already entered into a joint venture with L&T. India’s largest infrastructure company had been allocated with two major bauxite reserves in the state. As L&T did not have a plant here, it was not given mining license.

Agarwal hoped that since they have a JV with L&T, the government would recommend ML (mining lease) in their favour.

However, the state government was yet to take a decision in this regard, sources said.

“We are left with no option, but to pin hope on the bauxite reserve of L&T in order to run the company’s refinery at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district,” Agarwal said.

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