ET reported that regulatory hurdles and land acquisition problems are forcing alumina refiners to cut production, raising fears that India may have to rely more on exports for its aluminium requirement despite having huge reserves of the ore required for its production.

At 3.3 billion tonne, India has the world's fifth largest reserve of bauxite, the principal source of aluminium. But tardy government clearances and land acquisition issues mean that most of its alumina refineries cannot operate captive bauxite mines, leaving capacity idle.

Mr BK Mohanty advisor of Society of Geo scientist and Allied Technologists said that every year, India produces 4 million tonne of alumina which yields only 1.785 million tonne of aluminium. It is unfortunate that instead of raising alumina production, the country will witness a fall in the output by at least 20%. Despite plenty of bauxite deposits, it is ridiculous that alumina refineries are starved of bauxite.

According to the government's Aluminium Mission Plan 2010 to 2020, domestic demand for the metal is expected to rise from 1.4 million tonne a year now to 5 million tonne by 2015 and 10 million tonne by 2020.

Mr PK Jena mining expert and former director of Council of Industrial and Scientific Research said that "India is a placed at advantageous position, but based on present conditions and regulatory embargoes introduced every day, it is doubtful whether the industry will be able to take advantage."

Shortage of bauxite has forced Vedanta Aluminium to scale down production at its 1 million tonne per annum refinery at Lanjigarh, Odisha. The refinery has been working at 70% capacity, as the earmarked bauxite mine in Niyamgiri Hills could not be commissioned due to regulatory issues. Hindalco has not been able to access bauxite from the captive mines allotted to it at Maliparvat and Baphlimali in Odisha because of protests from local people. The commissioning plan of ANARAC's alumina refinery at Vizag, too, has gone awry for the same reason.

Source - Economic Times.indiatimes.com

(www.steelguru.com)