Vedanta Aluminium to lay off employees, no hope of revival of refinery

BHUBANESWAR: Vedanta Aluminium on Thursday will inform Odisha government its decision to lay off employees at its alumina refinery at Lanjigarh with no hope of an immediate revival of the plant, the company's chief operating officer Mukesh Kumar told ET.
VAL, a unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources, was forced to close down its refinery with a million tonne a year capacity two weeks ago due to non-availability of bauxite, the key raw material used to produce alumina.
The Act requires any plant employing more than 100 workmen to take prior permission from the state government for lay-off, retrenchment and closure. VAL has about 550 employees on its payroll.
In the past three months, about 70-75 employees, including engineers and executives, have already left the refinery, according to Kumar. The Lanjigarh plant had been facing bauxite shortages since its commissioning in August 2007 as the state government could not fulfill its commitment of supplying bauxite from the nearby Niyamgiri hills through state-run Odisha Mining Corporation, which held the lease due to regulatory and legal issues.
The refinery requires 10,000 tonnes of bauxite a day to operate at full capacity and the VAL had been lifting bauxite from the open market, which also has dried down. Odisha has a rich deposit of bauxite, pegged at 1,849 million tones, of all categories.
Ironically, during 2003-09, only 28.8 million tonnes of bauxite ore has been produced mostly from Panchpatmali mines of the maharatna National Aluminium Company. Some 7,000 people, mostly locals, would be seriously affected due to the retrenchment, a company top official said. VAL had announced to shut down the refinery on December 5. The Lanjigarh refinery has already incurred financial.

Courtsey: Economic Times

Can Vedanta restart Lanjigarh refinery?

Eight years ago, Kada Majhi, a tribal woman of Kinari, a village in the Kalahandi district of Odisha, eked out a living with paltry wages as a daily labourer. When Vedanta Aluminium started constructing a one-million-tonne-per-annum aluminium refinery at Lanjigarh, she, along with her husband and five children, shifted to Niyamagiri Vedanta Nagar, a model township, set up by the company to rehabilitate persons displaced by the project. Since then, the economic profile of the family has improved significantly. While Kada, 32, started working as a tailor in the Maa Manikeswari Self Help Group, promoted by Vedanta Aluminium, after required skill training, her husband got a job in the factory that fetched him Rs 15,000 per month. The children study at the DAV Vedanta International School — the first in the Majhi family to ever enter a classroom. The same story of improved fortunes runs across the 121 displaced tribal families settled in Vedanta Nagar, most of whom for the first time have accessed modern amenities like a pucca house, electricity, piped drinking water, healthcare and education — all free of cost.
In fact, the sudden change in lifestyle of these families had in the past led to agitations in the nearby villages — people there demanded similar benefits even at the cost of taking away their land. While most of the displaced persons have been provided permanent jobs by the company, drawing a salary of Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per month, about 500 of the 1,800 project-affected persons (those who lost their land and not home) have been engaged by contractors and earn up to Rs 5,000 per month. No wonder, ever since Vedanta announced that the refinery would be closed due to non-availability of bauxite, they are a worried lot, with a question mark over their future and livelihood. “What will our children do? Where can we find another job if this plant closes down”, asks Kada.
“The dream of several educated youth in Kalahandi district to get the job in their own district will be shattered if the plant is not revived”, says Parimita Behera, an assistant manager in the plant. Incidentally, Vedanta Aluminium is the only large industry in Kalahandi, a tribal district which ranks among the poorest in the country. The anxiety is all pervasive in Lanjigarh, which saw a spurt in economic activity over the last decade, catapulting it from a small village to a small town with the arrival of Vedanta. The factory currently engages about 3,500 people — 550 on the company’s payroll and another 3,000 through the contractors. There are also about 5,000 others who earn their livelihood by working in small shops, garages, filling stations, hotels, transport businesses, etc, in and around the town. But amidst the dismay, a tinge of optimism is displayed by the locals who hope the shutdown of the refinery may be “temporary”. “We expect the plant will reopen soon. The government should take urgent steps to supply bauxite”, says Sridhara Tensia, president of the Lanjigarh Anchalika Bikash Parishad.
The company, in its advance closure notice to the government, had expressed its intention to shut the refinery temporarily from December 5, citing non-availability of bauxite. It had urged the government to arrange alternative sources of bauxite (other than the controversial Niyamgiri deposit) for the revival of the unit. More than two years ago, Vedanta Aluminium had sought bauxite supplies from seven alternative mines, five in Rayagada and two in Kalahandi, after the Union ministry of environment & forests had scrapped the stage-II forest clearance for Niyamgiri lease in August, 2010.

Courtsey: Business Standard

Vedanta to shut down its Odisha refinery plant from December 5

Unable to run the refinery project to its full capacity since inception due to scarcity of bauxite, Vedanta Aluminium Limited on August 6, 2012 formally informed the Odisha government about its plan to shut down the plant from December five.

"We have given a letter to the secretary-cum- commissioner of labour department of the Odisha government about the closure plan. The three month notice is mandatory under the industrial dispute act before shutting down operations," Mukesh Kumar, President & Chief Operating Officer of VAL said.

Stating that the VAL had designed the smelter plant at Lanjigarh in Kahalandi district based on buffer bauxite, Kumar said the company could not get a gram of raw material from the state.
"Though you (state government) had guaranteed supply of bauxite raw material in the MoU, the company has not received any during its five years operation," Kumar wrote in the letter seeking the state government's help to run the plant.

Also Read: Vedanta calls for India to restrict bauxite exports  (Economic Times)

The company, which made operational its 1mtpa refinery at Lanjigarh in 2007, also stated that it could not use the plant to its full capacity during the last five years.

"Though we arranged raw material from other states, it was not possible anymore due to environmental clearance in many places. VAL also could not arrange bauxite from Gujarat as the state government preferred to export the raw material," Kumar said.

Under such a situation, the company incurred a loss of about Rs 2,500 crore for running the refinery at Lanjigarh, he said in the letter.

The VAL COO also requested the state government to help it by providing the raw material for running the refinery plant after December 5.

"If situation improves within 90 days, the company may not shut down the plant," he said.

The company has so far invested Rs 9,000 crore in the project which provided employment to 7,000 people including direct jobs to 3,000 persons, the COO said.

Though the company applied for 26 bauxite reserves in the state, nothing was finalised due to different reasons.

The company required 10,000 ton of bauxite every day to feed its 1mtpa refinery plant.

Steel and mines minister R K Singh said "We have not received the letter. The government will examine VAL's issue after getting the letter."

Courtesy: Business Standard

Vedanta Launches Centralized Mid-Day Meal Kitchen at Lanjigarh

5000 students of primary and upper primary schools of Lanjigarh Panchayat in Kalahandi district of Odisha will now get hygienic and nutritious food - courtesy Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL), which has collaborated with the Government of Odisha and Naandi Foundation to set up a hi-tech centralized mid-day meal kitchen in Lanjigarh.

Fresh, healthy and nourishing food cooked in this kitchen would cater to students from 50 schools covering many villages viz. Jaganathpur, Basantpada, Biswanathpur, Lanjigarh, Balabhadrapur, Pokhribandh, Chhatrapur, Jodabandh and Niyamgiri Vedanta Nagar. The project aims at improving the hygiene and nutritional value as well as increasing enrolment along with the retention of children in schools.

Appreciating the initiative, former SC & ST Minister Mr. Balabhaadra Majhi, said, “Vedanta’s attempt to provide nutritious and hygienic food to the children of Lanjigarh area is commendable. I am sure this would also help improve the overall rate of attendance in these schools.”

Dr. Mukesh Kumar, President & COO, VAL said, “The centralized mid-day meal kitchen intends to provide quality food to the children of Lanjigarh area. This would facilitate the government run mid-day meal programme and benefit students studying in the remotest of schools.”

As part of the MoU, Vedanta Aluminium Limited, has set up the centralized kitchen, where food will be cooked and sent to schools. Naandi Foundation will be responsible for cooking and management of the kitchen and also for delivering the food at the doorstep of the schools. The district administration will provide ration and other necessary items as per the mid-day meal scheme of the Government of Odisha.

Vedanta runs seven state-of-the-art kitchens in the states of Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh providing mid-day meals to over 2.5 lakh children.

Vedanta Supports Quality Education For Tribal Children

 Vedanta through its Foundation has funded education for 100 children in the tribal-dominated Rayagada district of Odisha with an objective of providing an equal opportunity to underprivileged children from the tribal population, including Dongria Kondhs, to pursue formal education.

In the first phase of the project, Vedanta Foundation has sent 63 tribal students between 5-8 years of age to Kalinga Institute of Social Science (KISS), Bhubaneswar – the sister concern of KIIT. The rest 37 students would be sent there in the second phase. In this regard a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between Vedanta Foundation, KISS and Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL), Lanjigarh. Vedanta Foundation would be supporting the project with an amount of Rs. 25 Lakhs per annum.

Appreciating the initiative, Mr. Balabhadra Majhi – Former SC & ST Minister, Govt. of Odisha, said, “Vedanta’s effort to provide quality education for the upliftment of tribal children is commendable. I am thankful to the corporate house for this noble cause. I hope more such attempts will be undertaken by Vedanta.”
Speaking about the initiative, Dr. Mukesh Kumar, President & COO – VAL said, “As a responsible corporate it is our prime responsibility to provide quality education to the tribal children around us because it is the only medium which can bring them into mainstream and help them live a better life. Quality education would ensure a bright future for these children and eventually, bring prosperity to the community.”
Beneficiary students of this project have been identified from Bissumcuttack, Muniguda and Kalyansinghpur blocks of Rayagada district which is predominantly inhabited by Dongria Kondh community.

To Save VAL Lanjigarh Refinery

Save VAL Lanjigarh Plant, Localites appeal to govt

Vedanta Conducts Safety Awareness Campaign

As part of the regular activity to aware the employees and workers about safety measures, a week-log campaign was organised at Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL), Lanjigarh which was concluded here on August 15, 2012.

The 7-day long Safety Awareness Campaign was started on 7th August with several awareness activity and competitions as part of the programme. The prime focus of the awareness programme was the Safety March around the alumina refinery of VAL at Lanjigarh which was led by Dr. Mukesh Kumar, President & COO – VAL, Lanjigarh. Including the senior officials of VAL and its associated partners, all other employees participated in the march.

Speaking on the occasion Dr. Mukesh Kumar said, “Safety of the employees and workers remains the highest priority for VAL. We definitely celebrate the safety Week, but with an intention to make our workers aware about safety and to make the daily life safe, we have organised this safety week. We will organise such safety awareness programmes regularly for the safety of everybody working here.”

All senior officials of VAL-Lanjigarh participated in the safety awareness programmes such Mr. Bimalananda Senapati, Head-Operations; Mr. KR Kundu, Head-HR; Mr. Rabi Narayan Mishra-Head, Health, Safety and Environment and Mr. BS Mund, Head-Power Plant. However, Pramod Kumar, Suniti Dhal and Soumya Ranjan Nayak played vital roles to make the safety Awareness Campaign successful.

The week-long schedule included various awareness programmes related to safety such as drawing, painting, quiz, road safety campaign, essay etc. among employees of VAL and its associated partners.
 

 

Putting Kalahandi on Global Map – Jogabyas

“All is in the mind” says Jogabyas Bhoi. This is a story of tenacity and grit displayed by an ordinary Kalahandian who desired to scale new heights since childhood. At first, having scaled Niyamgiri, he realized that it is important for him to go beyond.

“We found a spark in him” remarks Dr. Mukesh Kumar, President & COO-Vedanta Aluminium, Lanjigarh. Perhaps afterwards Jogabyas never looked back. Backed by support from Vedanta Aluminium and District Administration, Jogabyas scaled Mt Everest on April 16, 2012.

Jogabyasa with his students at VAL refinery

Now the bar has been raised. “I wish to groom young talent of Kalahandi in the field of mountaineering. We have formed “Odisha Mountaineering Trust” which aims to provide platform for such talent”, says Jogabyas. Perhaps the never-say-die attitude led to the first expedition with a batch of five students led by Jogabyas to move up to the base camp of Mt Annapurna in Nepal. All the students hail from Kalahandi district.

Back home, Jogabyas along with his students also visited Vedanta Aluminium, Lanjigarh Refinery. He agrees that corporate like TATA, Vedanta and others share the determination to bring change in lives of people and make India proud. He believes to add a new vibrant identity to Kalahandi both nationally and globally as a powerhouse which churns several maintainers of repute. Recently several maintainers from other parts of the country expressed their desire to visit Kalahandi, adds Jogabyas.

Also Read: Vedanta Aluminium helps Jogabyasa Bhoi to conquer Mt. Everest

Also Read: Everest glory for Oriya

 Manas Ranjan, student of Jogabyas from Rupra , Kalahandi aims to climb Mt. Pandim in Sikkim Himalaya range. “Nobody has scaled to the summit and I want to make history” says Manas. This 14-yr old youngster is yet to complete his 10th standard.

It is a fact that there are many youngsters who are indeed good maintainers. But lack of proper systems and platform is a hurdle. However it does not deter Jogabyas. “I have been blessed by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam who said I will definitely go places in life,” remarks Jogabyas.

Life is a journey and these five mountaineers led by Jogabyas have big plans to put Kalahandi on the global map of Mountaineering.

Health Awareness Through Street Plays Organised at Lanjigarh

Huge response was seen from the people of Lanjigarh area in Kalahandi district of Odisha to the Street Plays organized to Crate Health Awareness in an entertaining way. The campaign reached out to 36 villages of Lanjigarh periphery, mainly tribal dominated, organized by Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL) in association with the Health and Family Welfare Department Govt. of Odisha.

The street plays concentrated on health related issues like – malaria, diarrhoea, mother & child health, hand washing, safe drinking water, individual household toilet, sanitation etc. The campaign was conducted from 4th July'12 in peripheral villages like Rengopali, Basantpada, Bundel, Lanjigarh, Nangalbeda etc. Meaningful health-related messages were given through the street plays.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Mukesh Kumar, President & COO–VAL, said, “Lanjigarh is a malaria-prone area. Due to lack of awareness, health related issues crop up in their life. This campaign has touched the lives of the people in these regions which will help them to maintain a healthy society.”

The people in the region were receptive to the awareness programme as many of them are unaware about maintaining better healthcare. Appreciating the street plays, Linga Majhi of Rengopali village said, “Our people are unaware about such issues like malaria, diarrhoea, mother & child health, safe drinking etc. Many people till now hesitate to go to hospital and opt to the locally available sources to cure themselves. However, these plays have educated us (especially women) in an entertaining way. We are thankful to VAL.”

Ashram Building Inaugurated for 30 Orphan Children at Bhawanipatna

The fate of 30 orphan children in Kalahandi district of Odisha took a different turn – thanks to Hemant Mund and his wife Sunanda Mishra who are parenting the kids like their own family at Bhawanipatna. The 30 children – who were adopted by Mr. Mund from tribal dominated places of the district – have a home to live, dreams to fulfill with a nice parent.

With the name of ‘Bal Gopal Seva Niketan’, Hemant was running the orphanage school at his home earlier. However, thanks to Vedanta Aluminium Limited, Lanjigarh, Member of Parliament (MP) Mr. Bhakta Charan Das and the then MP for their financial support. Now the children have a newly constructed Ashram to live with good infrastructure.

On July 3, 2012, the new Ashram for the 30 orphan children was inaugurated by the MP Bhakta Charan Dash in presence of Chief Information Commissioner Mr. Satyananda Mishra and Dr. Mukesh Kumar, President and COO Vedanta Aluminium Limited, Lanjigarh.

On the occasion, an emotional Hemant says, “I am happy for my children for their new home. Vedanta arranged a land for the Ashram at Bhawanipatna and later helped us to build the building for the children. I am thankful to the corporate house for their kind support in the noble cause.” Hemant also extended gratitude to Mr. Satyananda Mishra for helping him and giving guidance all the time.

Hemant and his wife not only providing food and a home, they also ensure that the children get good education as all are doing well in different schools. The couple takes special care to impart spiritual education to them. All the children have become experts in reciting Gita and Vedic hymns. They have also displayed their skills in New Delhi, Mumbai, Ranchi and Bhubaneswar and won accolades.

Hemant and his wife dine and sleep together with the children and take special care like their own kids.

‘Aluminium Industry can generate employment to 7mn people’

The Aluminium Demand in the country may touch around five million ton by 2015 and 10 million ton by 2020 which can generate employment for nearly 7 million people in the country by 2020, said Dr. Mukesh Kumar, President & COO – Vedanta Aluminium Limited, at a recently held seminar on “Prospects of Alumina and Aluminium Industry in Odisha”. Many eminent Scientists, Academicians, Engineers interacted on the importance of Bauxite, Alumina & Aluminium for the development of Odisha.

The seminar, organized by Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers, was also attended by Padmashree PK Jena; Academician Prof. Omkar Nath Mohanty; Mr. H. P. Mishra–Former Chairman, IPICOL; representatives from NALCO and State Pollution Control Board.

Dr. Mukesh Kumar also pointed out that Odisha is blessed with High Quality Aluminium Reserves and based on the present analysis nearly 60% of India’s reserves are available in Odisha. However, this wealth of natural resources could not be translated into economic prosperity for the state. The availability of such vast natural resources could have been used for turning the Mineral and Metal potential of Odisha into a gold mine and eradicating poverty but unfortunately the State is still reeling under the crunch of chronic poverty without realizing the benefits of these natural resources.

“Besides employment generation, the Industry can contribute nearly Rs. 33000 crore annually to the exchequer. If immediate measures are not taken to boost Aluminium Production domestically, even the targets of electrifying all the villages also will be difficult to achieve in absence of electricity distribution network which is the main consumer of Aluminium in the country”, he further added.

He also said, “India and particularly Odisha where lies the main depository of the Aluminium Reserves in the country could not take the advantage of its mineral wealth and thereafter not even a single Alumina Refinery and Smelter could have been put up in the State even after 25 years of commissioning of NALCO project. The Vedanta Integrated Aluminum Complex set up in Odisha also is forced to run at lower capacity as no Bauxite from the State could be made available to the Project.”

Vedanta Commits to Environment; To Plant One Lakh Sapling At Lanjigarh

 Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL), Lanjigarh, celebrated World Environment Day on June 5, 2012 by organizing a massive plantation programme  involving all the Vedanta & its associate employers & families. On the occasion, Dr. Mukesh Kumar, President & COO informed that nearly one lakh saplings will be planted in and around the plant this year as part of our commitment towards making the area green and to improve the ecology of the area.

 The Environment Day Celebration at Lanjigarh commenced with plantation in the plant premises and at Resettlement and Rehabilitation colony viz. Niyamgiri Vedanta Nagar in which all employees of VAL and its Associated Partners participated.

Inaugurating the programme, Dr. Mukesh Kumar further impressed upon the principle of sustainable development through sustainable waste management & adopting best environmental practices. He said, “Our mission is to make a forest inside the plant instead of building a plant inside the forest.” He also reiterated on the initiatives and the road-map VAL-Lanjigarh has prepared to make optimum utilization of natural resources through recycling and recovering of wealth from waste and making VAL-Lanjigarh the first alumina refinery across the globe to have zero waste in addition to being a zero discharge plant.

This year the theme of World Environment Day is “Green Economy, Does it include you?” At VAL, for awareness on environment, competitions on Slogan and painting were organized among the employees of VAL and other associated companies as well as among the school children. The day-long programme also includes an awareness march organized at the VAL Township by all the families of Vedanta’s employees & school children followed by plantation and prize giving ceremony to the winners of various competitions.



An Endeavor to Empower Women at Lanjigarh

To improve options of income generation of local women through locally viable group enterprises, Vedanta Aluminium Limited, Lanjigarh in collaboration with Integrated Child Development Serves (ICDS) on May 17-18 organized a special training program with the theme ‘Book keeping, Record keeping and Benefits of SHG Formation’ at Niyamgiri Vedanta Nagar Community Centre & Kenduguda village respectively covering 93 women members from 11 Self Help Groups.

VAL, Lanjigarh conducted the training programme under the project Sashakti. So far 22 SHG’s have been strengthened covering 236 women in 12 villages. During the session, a detailed training was imparted by Child Development Programme Officer (CDPO), Lanjigarh Block Smt. Laxmibai Guru. The CSR Team of VAL along with Niharika Sahu, Sweety Mukherjee facilitated the training session. The Training was based on the important aspects of SHG like Concept of Self Help Groups (SHG’s), Need of SHG’s, formation, rules and regulations, mobilization and managing savings, roles and responsibilities and book keeping.

Many practical exercises were carried out through demonstrations like understanding the Umbrella concept thereby making them aware of mother and child care. A graph was also shown to make the SHG members aware of the stages of child development. The SHGs were made aware of the role and functions of Anganwadi workers and how they can facilitate the work.

The objective of the training programme was to improve options of income generation of local women through locally viable group enterprises by way of thrift and credit habit among the women and thereby enhance their quality of life ensuring their empowerment in family and social decision making process.