Vedanta Resources chairman Anil Agarwal on Wednesday met Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik and discussed the supply of bauxite to the Lanjigarh alumina project of the group. He also met state chief secretary JK Mohapatra and discussed the raw material linkage problem of the company’s refinery at Lanjigarh.
In the absence of bauxite linkage, the 1 million tonne plant of Vedanta Aluminium has been running at low capacity since July 2013 when it was reopened after remaining shut for over seven months. Vedanta’s plan to source bauxite from Niyamgiri has failed as the Union government has denied permission for mining in the Niyamgiri hills after an SC-ordered referendum saw all 12 gram sabhas in the hills unanimously reject the proposal. Vedanta has been pleading with the Odisha government for an alternative site to source raw material to run the plant.
