Bhattacharya: Big plans

Mumbai, May 23: Hindalco Industries, the AV Birla group company, will set up an aluminium smelter at an investment of Rs 7,700 crore in Madhya Pradesh.

The project, which will come up in Siddhi district, will include a 3.25-lakh-tonne aluminium smelter, a 750-mw captive power plant and a captive coal mine.

Hindalco will source the raw material for the smelter from Utkal Alumina, its greenfield project in Orissa. Utkal Alumina is a joint venture between Hindalco and Canada?s Alcan.

The new 3.25-lakh smelter in Madhya Pradesh will need around 6.40 lakh tonnes of alumina. Utkal Alumina is expected to produce 1.5 million tonnes annually.

Finances for the project have been tied up through internal accruals and debt. The project is expected to go on stream in four years once all necessary approvals and infrastructure support are in place.

D. Bhattacharya, managing director of Hindalco, who signed the MoU with the Madhya Pradesh government, said: ?Our chairman, Kumar Mangalam Birla, wants to be among the top 10 global players in aluminium. This greenfield project is a forward move in this regard.?

O.P. Rawat, principal secretary ? commerce, industry and employment, signed the MoU on behalf of the Madhya Pradesh government

This is Hindalco?s first project in Madhya Pradesh. However, the Aditya Birla group has been present in the state since 1948 with Grasim Industries? viscose staple fibre unit.

In 1972, the group set up a rayon grade caustic soda unit. When the group forayed into cement in the 1980?s, it chose Jawad as its plant?s location.

The Aditya Birla group has so far invested Rs 6,000 crore in its VSF and cement plants in Madhya Pradesh. More than 5,500 people are employed at these plants and outsourcing has added to 18,000 more jobs. The aluminium smelter in Siddhi is expected to create 4000-5000 new jobs and generate another 12,000 jobs indirectly.

The company's integrated complex at Renukoot in Uttar Pradesh houses an alumina refinery, aluminium smelter and facilities for production of semi-fabricated products. Besides the integrated complex at Renukoot, Hindalco's other manufacturing facilities are situated at locations across the country. While the captive bauxite mines are located in western and eastern India, the alumina refineries are located in Belgaum in southern India and Muri in eastern India.

Smelters are located at Hirakud, Orissa, with a captive power plant and coal mines, and at Alupuram, Kerala. Foil plants are based in the Union Territory of Silvassa and in Kalwa, Maharashtra.

Hindalco, had earlier announced plans to invest Rs 32,000 crore for expanding in the aluminium sector.       It has laid out a target to produce 1.1 million tonne of aluminium and 3.6 million tonnes of alumina annually by 2010.