Industry major Vedanta group plans to set up a hot metal park in Odisha’s Jharsaguda, in collaboration with the state government. The proposed unit would house auto ancillary units in the park, with Vedanta’s aluminium unit being the cornerstone.
The company has already signed deals with top automobile Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) over the last few months. Not wishing to focus on auto parts alone, Vedanta has also set its eyes on alloy wheels. While the group already has a cast house in Jharsuguda, it would need to pour in more investment. As the project will be on a Public-Private model, the state government will also contribute some land for the hub.
Ajay Kapur, who was recently appointed as the Chief Executive Officer for Vedanta, said, “We are in talks with the government of Odisha to put up a hot metal park there and have automobile ancillary units. It (the plan) is at an active discussion stage. The government will provide land and enter into a joint venture with us”.
The newly proposed park is a part of the design to increase the group’s value curve. Other than value addition, the mining conglomerate is looking to increase the production capacity to 3 million tonnes (MT) from the present 2 million tonnes, a jump of around 33% in output volumes.
In November 2018, Vedanta’s Lanjigarh alumina refinery had obtained a go-ahead from the state administration and was set up at a cost of Rs. 6486 crores. In comparison, however, the Jharsuguda plant will only cost an estimated Rs. 1204 crores.