Indus Valley Times

By Nalini Sahu

New Delhi/ Bhubaneswar, Sept. 15: Anil Agarwal, chairman of Vedanta Resources, on Thursday met Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on the sidelines of ‘Make in Odisha – 2022’ roadshow in Mumbai.

The Vedanta Group has made its single largest investment in Odisha till date, in aluminium manufacturing value chain, ferrochrome, mining and value-addition, to the tune of Rs 80,000 crores. With this quantum of investment, Vedanta is contributing nearly 4 per cent to Odisha’s gross state domestic product (GDP) through its operations.

The company has also created over 5 lakh livelihood opportunities and fostered hundreds of MSMEs in the state.

Speaking about Vedanta’s partnership in the progress of Odisha, Mr. Anil Agarwal, Chairman – Vedanta Resources, said, “We (Vedanta) stand testimony to what is possible if you Make in Odisha. It is amongst the most favourable investment destinations in India, ably led by the stable governance, leadership, and vision of Shri. Naveen Patnaik Ji, which is reflected in the state’s Ease of Doing Business rankings. Single window clearance system, 5T framework, focus on infrastructure projects, etc. have increased the investor community’s confidence in Odisha. And it is on account of this, that we have new investments of more than INR 25,000 crores in line for expansion of our aluminium, ferrochrome and mining business, which will create more job opportunities and revenue for the state. We are also setting up one of the largest Aluminium Parks near our Jharsuguda smelter to boost the domestic aluminium downstream ecosystem. It heartens us to see our investment in Jharsuguda turn the district into a vibrant industrial hub with an airport. Odisha’s rich culture, technically skilled manpower and natural resource sector have contributed significantly to boost the GDP of the nation.Beyond business, we are in the process of establishing 650 Nand Ghars, which will benefit more than 5 lakh women & children with interventions in education, nutrition, healthcare and skill development. This will be in addition to our 360-degree community development programs in hundreds of villages.”

Vedanta’s investments and their economic impact in Odisha:

·         Vedanta’s aluminium smelter at Jharsuguda is the world’s largest single-location aluminium smelter (ex-China), and the only Indian smelter in the global ‘1 Million Tonne’ club.

·         First Indian metals producer to manufacture low carbon aluminium, branded ‘Restora’, for customers worldwide.

·         A world-class alumina refinery at Lanjigarh (Kalahandi district), which feeds the company’s aluminium smelters.

·         Ferro Alloys Corporation Limited (FACOR), a subsidiary of Vedanta, is one of India’s leading producers & exporters of ferro alloys.

·         FACOR also contributes 8% of India’s chrome ore production

·         Reduced Odisha’s power deficit by 10% over the past decade, by supplying about 20 billion units of electricity to alleviate acute power shortage.

These large-scale national assets have significantly strengthened the socio-economic fabric in the regions where they operate.

Impact of Vedanta’s community development programs in Odisha include:

·         360-degree social impact through deep interventions in education, healthcare, livelihood, rural infrastructure and more, with a focus on women & child development, in more than 130 villages.

·         Partnered with the Government of Odisha’s ‘Mo School’ program to augment the infrastructure in rural schools and enable children’s access to high-quality education.

·         Established Kalahandi’s first English medium school, the DAV Vedanta International School, which supports 1200 students, 90% of whom are from local communities. This school created an aspiration for quality education among local communities, which is reflected in the rise in literacy levels in Kalahandi.

·         Created a vibrant rural women’s co-operative called ‘Subhalaxmi’ in Odisha, which has over 4100 women members today, who are engaged in various enterprises like farming, tailoring, fabrication, poultry, etc.

·         Vedanta Hospital, a 20-bed state-of-the-art medical facility at Lanjigarh, attends to over 60,000 people visit the Vedanta Hospital every year. Free of cost healthcare services by Vedanta Aluminium and awareness campaigns have helped decrease the prevalence of malaria in Kalahandi as well.

·         Reviving age-old artforms like Dhokra and Saura, and nurturing tribal sports like archery, at grassroots.