By Bizoisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, August 29, 2015 : In a last ditch effort to ensure supply of bauxite from the state, Vedanta Aluminium Limited (VAL) chief operating officer (COO) KK Dave on Saturday met Odisha steel and mines minister Prafulla Mallick here urging him to allocate a mine to its one million ton Lanjigarh plant in Kalahandi district.

The VAL already has announced to shut down the plant due to lack of bauxite – the main raw material and the falling global metal prices to run the refinery.

“We have been running this plant here as per the agreement with Odisha Government since last ten years with a hope to use raw materials from the state. But we haven’t even got a tonne of bauxite from here yet. We are not in a position to run the plant even for a day longer. However, we had a meeting with the government today to discuss the issue. The negotiations are still on and there would be another meeting next week. We wouldn’t mind continuing with talks if it can end in a solution,” Dave tld media persons.

The Saturday meeting assumed significance as it follows a meeting between Lanjigarh BJD MLA Balabhadra Majhi, Bhawanipatna Sadar MLA Anam Naik and chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday.

The legislators along with other local leaders had made it clear that the closure of the refinery would result in large-scale joblessness and had appealed the CM to intervene in the matter to ensure allocation

The closure of the plant will affect the livelihood of nearly 10,000 people directly. Besides, the region will have no more Mid-day Meal in 187 schools and free health services being provided by the Vedanta Lanjigarh Hospital as part pf the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) initiatives of the company, if the plant gets shut down, the locals pointed out.

Mines Minister Mallick, said, the meeting remained inconclusive. “They requested the government for allocation of bauxite mines. Another round of meeting would be held next Friday with companies such as NALCO to discuss things further,” said Mallick.

The company on August 25 had issued a press release informing about the closure of its Lanjigarh operations on August 25 citing unavailability of bauxite and.
“We ran this unit with all commitment for nearly a decade, despite heavy odds. But with the current market turmoil, which is not likely to improve soon and in the absence of access to bauxite from within the State, the plant is operating with a daily loss of Rs 3 crores. Hence, we are forced to initiate the process of gradual closure,” Dave had said.