Vedanta to start work on its aluminium project in Bengal

KOLKATA: The Vedanta Group has decided to start work on its Rs 12,000-crore aluminium project in West Bengal, one of the first major investments in the non-ferrous metals sector in the state. The project, which is proposed to come up at Bidhanbag in the state’s industrial town of Asansol, includes a 3,000 MW power plant and a 6.5 lakh tonne smelter in two phases. “We are in the process of developing the land in the area. We already have around 280 acres in our possession to begin with,” Sandeep Agrawal, who has been entrusted with responsibility for Vedanta’s West Bengal project. Incidentally, Agarwal was the CEO of India Foils, which was recently acquired by Ess Dee Aluminium from the Vedanta Group’s Sterlite Industries. The group has taken a soft approach to build up a presence in the state, perhaps, taking a cue from the recent incidents faced by some corporate groups across the country. Most of the initiatives being taken up by the company relate to social care projects in the areas like education, sports and healthcare. The group is also carrying out programmes to create an awareness among the local people about the project that includes. This is in line with the group strategy to take up similar projects in states like Orissa, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu where it has units. This is an impact of ET’s pioneering initiative — Kolkata Inc 2010: The Business Blueprint — in which one of the recommendations that emerged was prospective investors should communicate about the project and its effect to various stakeholders and the local people. Vedanta’s foray into West Bengal will be through a now-defunct unit of Aluminium Corporation of India set up in 1952 at Asansol. The project is due to be completed within three-year period. ---economictimes.indiatimes.com