After being shut for nine days due to lack of bauxite, the alumina refinery of Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL) at Lanjigarh in Kalahandi district started functioning on Monday after receiving small supply of bauxite from Chhattisgarh and was assured to get supply from Gujarat.
“The refinery plant, which was temporarily shut down on October 13, has opened and re-started operations as we have managed to procure bauxite from Chhattisgarh and Gujarat,” VAL Chief Operating Officer (COO) Mukesh Kumar said.
However, it would take two to three days to resume actual production as it involves a gradual process, he said. The company now has a stock of about 40,000 tonnes of bauxite. Kumar said about 3,000 tonnes of the ore was being received from Kwardha mines of Balco in Chhattisgarh for the last few days. In addition, the company is going to receive 90,000 tonnes of bauxite from Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC).