India: Utkal Alumina completes its half a million tonne expansion at Rayagada refinery

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik formally inaugurated the expansion of Hindalco's Utkal Alumina refinery at Kashipur in Rayagada district, from 1.5 mnt pa to 2 mnt pa.

According to official statement, Aditya Birla group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, who participated in this virtual inauguration along with Hindalco MD Satish Pai, the group will invest about Rs 7,200 crore across various businesses including INR 3,000 crore to set up a flat-rolled product (FRP) plant, a downstream unit at Hirakud in Sambalpur district.

The FRP unit will have an annual production capacity of 3.75 lakh tonnes and share the same technology of its American subsidiary Novelis, claimed the company.

In January 2020, the state government had approved Hindalco's INR 8000 crore proposal for a second greenfield alumina refinery at Kansariguda in Rayagada district. Sources said the company is in the process of acquiring additional 600 acres in addition to 1500 acres already possessed by the company for the new unit.

The company which has a captive mine at Baphlimali is not participating in the upcoming auction of a bauxite deposit at Karalapat. Company officials said they are counting on the government to assure them raw material for this refinery, hopefully from the nearby Kodingamali bauxite mine.