Rapidly dwindling stock of bauxite at its refinery complex at Lanjigarh in Odisha’s (Orissa’s) Kalahandi district has forced Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) to downsize its capacity significantly.
And, with bauxite stock depleting to almost ‘zero level’, the refinery plant is barely able to run intermittent operations for the past two days after operating at 40-50 per cent capacity since August 1 this year.
After being denied access to the bauxite deposits at Niyamgiri Hills by Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), VAL wholly depended on bauxite sourced from other states to keep its refinery operation afloat at Lanjigarh. But supply glitches from have poured cold water over its plans, leaving the company high and dry. With sourcing of bauxite from other states becoming increasingly difficult, VAL may be left with no other option except going for ‘temporary shutdown’ of the plant, says a top official of the company.
See http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/vedanta-refineryvergetransient-shutdown-amid-zero-bauxite-stock/483954/.
[N.B. Vedanta has been kept out of the Niyamgiri Hills so far by the unyielding opposition of the Dongria Kondh Indigenous People and their allies in India, the UK and elsewhere.]