Vedanta group is likely to close its 1-million tonne alumina refinery at Odisha’s Lanjigarh from Wednesday, a move which would impact about 7,000 jobs in the Eastern state.
The mining conglomerate, which runs the alumina refinery through an unlisted subsidiary, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL), had given a closure notice to the State Government three months ago citing severe shortage of bauxite as the reason for the shutdown.
“Suspension of operations (of Lanjigarh alumina refinery) is imminent from December 5 due to non-availability of bauxite . We cannot help it, Odisha Government is yet to give any assurance on bauxite availability. In its absence, running the plant is not sustainable,” a senior company official told PTI.
He added that “we had given a 3-month notice in September to the State Government to close operations from December 5 and we are sticking to that date. For last several months, we have been running the plant at lower capacities and incurring losses.”