Vedanta Group Investing Rs 20,000 Cr In Bengal

Kolkata: The $ 6.5-billion turnover Vedanta Group will set up aluminium manufacturing capacities in Burdwan district of West Bengal at an investment of Rs 20,000 crore. Budget

A `Memorandum of Development’ in this regard was signed here today between the Vedanta Group and the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation Ltd.

Among those present at the development agreement signing ceremony were the West Bengal Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, West Bengal’s Minister of Industries and Commerce, Nirupam Sen, and the Chairman of the Vedanta Group, Anil Agarwal.

As part of its roadmap in this regard, the Vedanta Group has acquired, and will revive, the now-defunct West Bengal Aluminium Corporation that was set up in 1952 with an installed capacity of 30,000 tonnes per annum (tpa).

Along with this, Vedanta will also set up new capacities with a view to taking the total smelter capacity to 6.5 lakh tpa. Additionally, a power plant of 3000 MW capacity would be set up in two phases of 1,500 MW each. The twin projects will require 1,000 acres of land and are scheduled for completion within the next two years.

Speaking on the occasion, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, said the State Government has proposed to set up an aluminium park close to the Vedanta project. Investors would be encouraged to set up aluminium downsteam units in the aluminium park.

Bhattacharjee said aluminium was a “green metal” and had the potential to replace wood in various applications. People should be encouraged to use more aluminium, especially in the context of the growing problem of global warming, he said.

Nirupam Sen said work on the project could take off immediately on the 270 acres of land that is already in the possession of Vedanta. The State Government would make available additional land that would be required for setting up the twin projects.

Anil Agarwal said the project would meet the requirements of downstream units in the small and medium sector. He expressed happiness that the project was being set up in West Bengal, which was home to India’s first integrated aluminium manufacturing plant.

Vedanta Resources Plans To Invest $12.5bn

Mumbai: The metals and mining company Vedanta Resources to infuse about $12.5 billion to speed up its business growth. It is targeting at increasing production capacity for each of its primary metals such as aluminium, copper, zinc and lead to one million tonne per annum. Apart from this, it also intends to increase its iron ore production to 20 million tonnes. On the power generation front, the company plans to set up commercial power generation capacity of close to 10,000 MW in the next few years. The Vedanta Group''s business partnership summit brought together its vendor partners, entrepreneurs and industry experts in the metals and mining sector on a single platform. An aluminium technology park in Chhattisgarh has been conceived with the support of the Chhattisgarh government, where entrepreneurs will establish downstream product units such as extrusions, castings and PP caps.

Vedanta Mulls Rs 24,000cr Orissa Plant For Steel Entry

New Delhi: Non-ferrous metals giant Vedanta Resources is planning to foray the Indian steel sector with a 5 million tonne plant at an investment of about Rs 24,000 crore in Keonjhar district of Orissa and conceiving of its commissioning by 2012-13. It is planning to build a 5 million tonne steel plant at Keonjhar district of Orissa. Vedanta, which is the holding company of Sterlite Industries, has proposed to form a company - Sterlite Iron and Steel Company - for the project. The company will be a alliance between the Vedanta group and Volcan Investments, Vedanta''s holding company. Vedanta has started trial run of its Rs 3,500 crore alumina plant at Lanjigarh in Orissa but is yet to ensure adequate bauxite linkage for its different projects.