Ranchi, May 10: Hindalco?s Rs 730-crore expansion plan in Muri has got a push with the government finally deciding to allot 4.66 acres of land to the alumina-producing plant.

Hindalco, which took over the Muri plant of Indal after acquiring the company, needs the adjacent plot of land to store bauxite and set up a 25 to 30 MW captive power unit.

Revenue minister Chandra Prakash Choudhary said the government would formally allot 4.66 acres of land ?in a day or two? to the Aditya Birla Group company. ?The process to release the remaining land is under way,? he said.

The Muri plant needs 289 acres of land to enhance its production by almost five times, from 1.1 lakh tonne to 5 lakh. It also deposited 80 per cent advance to the government in October last year but it urgently required 4.66 acres of land, adjacent to the existing plant, to complete the expansion by July 2006.

Hindalco senior vice-president Sandeep Sengupta said the company was optimistic about completing the project in time as the main hurdle had been cleared.

Company officials said: ?Hindalco has already confirmed it will abide by whatever relief and rehabilitation package is prepared by the government for the displaced villagers. Besides, the expansion will also generate an additional 100 to 150 direct jobs while the number of generation of indirect jobs will be much higher. The local residents will largely benefit from this.?

?We have no problems if the remaining land is released six months later, but we urgently required the 4.66 acres to expedite our expansion plan as we have to set up the bauxite storage facility in consultation with the railways. We could not set up the power plant or store the bauxite on the existing plant premises,? a company official said.

The remaining land in Kucchu and Kutru villages, about 3 km from the plant, is for storing red mud and flyash, he added.

The official said the bauxite brought from the Lohardaga mines is washed and turned into alumina powder, which is sent to the Hirakud smelter plant in Orissa to be converted into aluminium. ?Once the company sets up its Rs 7,800-crore smelter in Latehar, the entire processing will be done in the state,? the official said.

The smelter plant is expected to come up in end-June once suitable land is identified and cleared.

The company had applied for allotment of 1.57 acres of land in Muri village, 3.09 acres in Kokorana and the remaining 284 acres in Kucchu and Kutru villages on September 16, 2004. The company deposited 80 per cent of the land value of Rs 2,92 crore on October 30 last year.