MINING AND INDUSTRIALISATION UPDATE, ORISSA - Vasundhara

needs about 14,000 tonnes of coal per day torun its aluminum smelter and aluminarefinery at full capacity. The company has along-term contract for supply of 4.87 milliontonnes of coal from Mahanadi Coalfields.Three aluminium projectsreferred to high-level panelENS, 30 July, 2008BHUBANESWAR: THE State-level singlewindow clearance authority (SWCA) headedby Chief Secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy onMonday cleared one silico manganeseproject and referred three mega aluminiumprojects to the high-level committee (HLC)headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.The Nalco smelter plant with an estimatedinvestment of Rs 16,345 crore will be set upat Brajrajnagar in Jharsuguda district. Thecapacity of the plant will be 0.5 milliontonnes. Besides, the project envisages acaptive power plant (CPP) of 1,260 MW.Official sources said that the StateGovernment will earn a revenue of Rs 250to 300 crore per annum from the project.While 3,200 persons will be gettingappointments, it will create indirectemployment opportunities for 6,400.Another project to be jointly set up byLarsen and Toubro (L&T) and DubaiAluminium Company Limited (DUBAL)will have an investment of Rs 19,668 crore.The project includes a 3 million tonnecapacity alumina refinery to be set up atKusumsila in Rayagada district and 10.44million tonne capacity aluminium smelter atBadarapali in Sambalpur district besides a1,080 MW CPP. According to sources, theproject will create employment opportunitiesfor 11,110 persons. The expected revenueearnings of the State Government will bebetween Rs 290 crore and Rs 300 crore ayear. The RSB Metal and Tech will set upan aluminium project with an investment ofRs 6,800 crore. The aluminium smelter of1.75 million tonne capacity and 450 MWCPP will be established at Muktaposhi inDhenkanaldistrict.The 0.75 million tonne alumina refinery willbe set up in Rayagada district. Besides, theplant will also produce special gradealuminium of 0.2 million tonne. It willcreate direct and indirect employmentopportunities for 8,000 persons. Thecommittee cleared the ferro manganese andsilico manganese project to be set up atSomnathpur by Bajaj Steels and IndustriesLimited with an investment of Rs 298 crore.The revenue earnings by the StateGovernment from the project will be Rs 20crore.Union for safe ore exportpolicyThe Telegraph, 30 July, 2008The Hind Mazdoor Sabha (HMS) onTuesday demanded ban on export of iron oreclaiming that unhindered movement of theore out of the country would spell disasterfor the indigenous steel industry. “The lossof iron ore advantage that our country haswould put all investment at risk, while costbenefit of using domestic steel will also belost,” said Rajendra Prasad Singh, the vicepresidentof HMS at a conference held onTuesday evening. Singh said Indian steelmakers had demanded some sort of controlon the export of iron ore. Though the matteris stated to be under the government’sconsideration, a final decision is yet to betaken. “No country with such a largepopulation and increasing per capita demandexports so much ore. “If growth inproduction is to be maintained at an averageof 7.3 per cent over the next few decades,then India’s reserves will be wiped out in thenext 30 to 40 years,” Singh said. The leadersaid export of ore in the last fiscal had goneup to nearly 60 per cent of the productionfrom 44 per cent in 1997-98.Nalco makes a profit of Rs525.33 crStatesman News Service20