BackVedanta to up aluminium smelting capacity
Vedanta to up aluminium smelting capacity
Premium
New Delhi: Vedanta Resources Plc has announced a $9.8 billion investment programme to increase its fully integrated aluminium smelting capacity to 2.6mtpa by 2012.
Upon completion, Vedanta is expected to be Asia’s largest and among the top 5 integrated producers of aluminium worldwide.
The next phase of brownfield growth projects consists of 1,250 kilo-tonne (kt) aluminium smelter project together with an associated captive thermal power plant in Orissa, as well as a 325kt aluminium smelter project in Chattisgarh.
Correspondingly, Vedanta will also increase its alumina capacity at Lanjigarh from 1.4mtpa to 5mtpa.
This increase will be achieved by de-bottlenecking the capacity of the existing 1.4mtpa alumina refinery by an additional 0.6mtpa by March 2010 and building three new production streams of 1mtpa each.
The first stream of 1mtpa is scheduled for commissioning by mid-2010 and all three streams are expected to be completed by mid-2011.
Restructuring plans
The group also announced plans of restructuring to simplify its corporate structure into three commodity focused groups — Copper and Zinc-Lead, Aluminium and Energy and Iron Ore.
Under the Scheme which will be effective from 1 April 2009, Sterlite will demerge its aluminium and energy businesses to MALCO (to be simultaneously renamed Sterlite Aluminium Ltd) and Vedanta will transfer its 79.4% equity interest in Konkola Copper Mines Plc. to Sterlite.
“We believe that the resulting structure will bring material improvements to our organization and will improve focus and transparency across our businesses," said Anil Agarwal, chairman, Vedanta.
The Scheme will also eliminate cross holdings between businesses arising out of MALCO’s holding in Sterlite. The corporate restructuring is expected to be completed by March 2009.
“The restructuring plan is a positive for the shareholders of the group entities as it will not only lead to the emergence of three focused commodity businesses, but will also help in according better valuations to these companies with lesser cross-holdings and overlapping businesses," noted Hitesh Agrawal, Head of Research, Angel Broking.
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!
