Vedanta's aluminium project six months ahead of schedule

London, Apr 09, 2009 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) -- VDNRF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Metal czar Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Resources today said the first phase of its aluminium smelter project in Orissa, India, is about six months ahead of the schedule and would be fully operational by the end of the first quarter in 2009-10. The first phase of 2.5 lakh tonnes per annum is expected to be fully operational by the first quarter of financial year 2010, six months ahead of the original schedule, a statement from the company said. It added the work on the 2.5 lakh tonnes per annum second phase is also as per schedule and phased commissioning is likely to start from June 2009, making the unit fully operational by the end of 2010 fiscal. Vedanta plans to set up aluminium smelters with a total installed capacity of 1.77 million tonnes in India. One of its smelters at Jharsuguda in Orissa has already started initial production as part of the first phase plan. The company's fourth quarter aluminium production increased by 31.4 per cent to 13.4 lakh tonnes to which the contribution of the Jharsuguda smelter stood at 49,000 tonnes. In 2008-09, the company's aluminium production was 4.62 lakh tonnes, up 16.7 per cent from the year-ago fiscal. The Jharsuguda smelter contributed 82,000 tonnes to it. Vedanta's alumina refinery at Lanjigarh in Orissa is also on stream and produced 1.71 lakh tonnes of the metal in the fourth quarter of the fiscal that just ended. In addition to alumina and aluminium, the Anil Agarwal- led company has its presence in zinc, copper, lead and silver sectors in India. It has lined up an investment of Rs 70,000 crore by 2011-12 for its operations in India. Of the total amount, it has already spent Rs 35,000 crore on its ongoing expansion. The company expects to commission a 2.10 lakh tonne per annum zinc smelter and one lakh tonne lead smelter at Rajpura Dariba in Rajasthan by May 2010, incurring an expenditure of Rs 3,600 crore. Work on the company's mining projects at Rampura Agucha, Sindesar Khurd and Kayar in the country are also progressing timely and are likely to be commissioned by mid-2010. At present, Vedanta group firm Hindustan Zinc's annual production capacity is 7.54 lakh tonnes of which 85,000 tonnes are lead and 6.69 lakh tonnes zinc.