Hindalco Industries plans to invest Rs 10,000 crore this fiscal in its ongoing projects Mahan Aluminium in Madhya Pradesh, Aditya Alumina and Aluminium and Utkal Alumina in Orissa.

The Aditya Birla Company will also invest Rs 700 crore this fiscal to enhance capacity at the Dahej unit of its subsidiary Birla Copper, which produces cathodes, continuous cast copper rods and precious metals.

Hindalco has cash reserves of Rs 29,504 crore as on March 31, 2011.

Project delays

Replying to shareholders' query on the delay in commissioning of Mahan Aluminium and Aditya Alumina, Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Hindalco Industries, said it was due to the delay in obtaining environment clearances and procuring land.

Availability of skilled and semi-skilled labour was also an issue, he said at the company's 52nd annual general meeting on Friday.

Mr Birla assured the investors that the Mahan Coal Block would soon get the green signal soon with the Government deciding to scrap the concept of ‘go and no go' zones. At present, the project is under the consideration Empowered Group of Ministers.

Promoters' stake

Accepting shareholders' plea to consider hiking the promoters' stake either through creeping acquisition or buyback as the share price had fallen substantially, Mr Birla said a decision would be taken by the board at the appropriate time.

UNCERTAINTY GALORE

Worldwide, an unmistakable phenomenon has been the sharp accentuation of uncertainty about the future course of the large global economies. Governments were struggling to respond appropriately to this uncertainty, which inevitably spills over into the world of business, Mr Birla said.

This is more than evident in terms of volatile financial markets, uncertainty in growth, uneven trade, high unemployment and intractable inflation. Clearly, such pronounced volatility is highly disruptive, both for the global economy and for business. And, India is no exception to these tectonic happenings, he said.

Growth in the infrastructure and capital goods sector was slower than the GDP growth. While the economy showed signs of a turnaround, it suffered setbacks, albeit in a limited way.

Factors that affected India include high inflation, fiscal and current account deficits and lack of policy facilitation to increase domestic investments, among others. Despite several measures by the Government and the Reserve Bank of India, inflation has not been reined in at the desired level, he said.

The company's shares on BSE were down 3.77 per cent at Rs 134 on Friday.

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