Vedanta keen to set up steel plant

BHUBANESWAR: Vedanta Resources has decided to rope in Larsen and Toubro to set up a mega steel plant in Orissa as its subsidiary Sterlite Industries' proposed steel facility in Keonjhar district has so far proved to be a non-starter. This was indicated by Vedanta group's chairman Anil Agarwal following a meeting with chief minister Naveen Patnaik here on Thursday evening.
In 2004, Sterlite Industries had signed a MoU with the Orissa government proposing to five million tonne per annum steel mill in Keonjhar district. But so far the project has failed to take off. Sources said the Vedanta group, which is a leading player in the non-ferrous category, was interested in the steel project as its subsidiary Sesa Goa had iron-ore mines.
Agarwal informed that a tripartite agreement for the steel plant will be signed soon involving Vedanta, L&T and Orissa government. Though he did not divulge much, sources said the company has started discussions with the state government to ascertain whether the MoU with Sterlite Industries would stand or fresh pact has to be inked.
Agarwal said the first unit of a 2,400 MW thermal power plant at Jharsuguda would be commissioned by summer. "We discussed about Jharsuguda (project); 5,00,000 tonnes of aluminium is under production, while construction for 1.5 million tonne is on," he added.
He informed that Vedanta's million tonne per annum alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district has started production by sourcing bauxite from other states, causing a huge opportunity loss for both states as well as the company. Officials said Agarwal requested Naveen to give administrative support to help the company mine bauxite from Niyamgiri hills.
A company release said plans are afoot for establishing of 100-bed burn-cum-trauma care centre at Bhubaneswar, a metal park at Jharsuguda for downstream industries and a hostel for Government Engineering College at Bhawanipatna.