In a news release, the Adani Group announced plans to build a 4-million-tonne-per-year alumina refinery near bauxite mines, as well as an iron ore plant.
The Adani group, led by India’s richest man, Gautam Adani, would invest Rs 57,575 crore in the establishment of an alumina refinery in Odisha.
According to a news release, the group plans to build a 4-million-tonne-per-year alumina refinery near bauxite mines, as well as an iron ore plant.
“The Odisha government’s High-Level Clearance Authority (HLCA), led by chief minister Naveen Patnaik, approved the Adani Group’s petition to establish two projects — a 4 million tonnes per annum integrated alumina refinery and a 30 million tonnes iron ore (value addition) project,” it added.
Beginning as a commodities trader in the late 1980s, the Adani group has since expanded into ports, airports, power, renewable energy, gas distribution, data centres, and, most recently, cement.
“Odisha is one of our most strategic states in which we have continued to invest, and we are always grateful for the cooperation we have received from chief minister Naveen Patnaik,” Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani said.
Metals, he said, are key commodities in which the nation must be self-sufficient, and these initiatives are in line with Atmanirbharta’s vision.
“Moreover, as a power-intensive business, it is a tremendous adjacency to the renewable energy that we are able to create and help to make the greenest alumina anywhere,” he added. “Our Rs 57,575 crore capital investment will create 9,300 direct jobs and tens of thousands of indirect job possibilities in Odisha.” The alumina refinery, which will be built near potential bauxite sources or active mines, will generate smelter grade (metallurgical grade) alumina.
The iron ore project will include an iron ore beneficiation plant that will create iron ore concentrate, a slurry pipeline for the concentrate slurry, and a dewatering/filtration & pellet facility that will produce filter cake and pellet.
The iron ore beneficiation plant would be built in Deojhar, in the Keonjhar district of northern Odisha, while the pellet plant will be built in Dhamra, in the neighbouring Bhadrak district.
The slurry pipeline will run between Deojhar and Dhamra along the utility corridor of the highways.
Odisha, long known as India’s mineral hub, is home to more than half of the country’s bauxite and iron ore reserves. “The Adani Group’s projects, which are aligned with the government of Odisha’s Vision 2030: Development of Downstream Units in Metal Sector,” the statement continued, “are expected to improve the state’s development and overall socio-economic status.”
Prasanta Patnaik