Orissa emerging as as aluminium hub of India

Economic Times, April 5, 2010
BHUBNESWAR: The bauxite-rich Orissa is set to emerge as the aluminium hub in less than a decade with upward swing by increasing its volume of production. The state has more than 1,530 million tons of bauxite reserve, according a conservative estimate

Public sector Navratna public section undertaking National Alumunium Company Limited (Nalco), major private players such as Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL) and Aditya Birla Group (ABG), have made aggressive planning to cash in on the 2010 boom the sector is going to witness.

Nalco, India's largest producer and exporter of alumina and aluminium, has set a target of producing 4.6 lakh tons of aluminium and 16.58 lakh tons of alumina in the 2010-11 financial year.

In the recent MoU signed by company chairman-cum-managing director A.K. Srivastava with mines secretary Santha Sheela Nair, the PSU has projected 100% capacity untilisation of its aluminium smelter at Angul and its refinery at Damanjodi in Orissa. Besides, it has projected to produce 7,715 million units of power at 85% PLF (Plant load factor), from its 1,200 MW captive power plant at Angul.

Despite high input costs, Vedanta Aluminium has set a target of producing 2.5 million tons of aluminium by 2012-13. The company hopes that it would make up for its daily losses once it is allowed to source bauxite from the allocated Niyamgiri mine for its 1-million-tonnee refinery at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi.

The Lanjigarh refinery – which began its operations in 2007 - is at present losing $ 90 on every ton of alumina it produces. This refinery project would feed VAL’s Jharsuguda smelter in Orissa and Balco in Chhattisgarh.

According Mr Mukesh Kumar, chief operating officer of VAL, the 500,000-tonne Jharsuguda smelter is to be ramped up to 1.75 million tons.

Encouraged by the new market trend, Aditya Birla Group (ABG), which is putting up a world-class one million-ton aluminium complex at Rayagada – has proposed to set up Rs 1,000-crore aluminium downstream project near its existing smelter at Hirakud. The project envisages setting up of rolling mill to manufacture high quality aluminium flat rolled products (FRP) and cans.

ABG chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla recently called on chief minister Naveen Patnaik and discussed on the group’s various projects in Orissa, including expansion of proposed smelter capacity at Hirakud from 0.26 million ton per annum (MTPA) to 0.36 mtpa.

ABG’s integrated aluminium project comprises an alumina refinery of one-million metric tonnes per annum, an aluminium smelter plant of 2,60,000 tons per annum, a captive power plant of 650 MW and bauxite mines of three million tons annual capacity, at a project cost of about Rs.11,000 crore.