VEDANTA RESOURCES Mr. Ramesh Nair, CEO & Whole Time Director, BALCO inaugurated the mine. ''Chotia is integral to BALCO's strategy. It will add to our coal security by a reasonable margin. Aluminium production is a power intensive process and our captive power plants need to source coal at viable rates. The Chotia Mine with its capacity of one million tonne per annum will directly feed our captive power plants, besides imports and SECL through auction. '
He added, 'The coal auctions have been watershed for the Indian economy. Through a transparent bidding process, companies from the regulated and the non-regulated sector have been awarded mines. This has ensured a level-playing field for companies, both public sector and private. It also highlights the Government's focus to boost investment and solve the existing problems in the power sector.'
BALCO has projected that three lakh tonnes of coal will be mined during FY2016 from the Chotia coal mine. The Chotia mine is the only coal mine of Vedanta group. The company had won the mine during the first phase of auctions in February 2015. Known for its high quality coal reserves BALCO had bid a price of INR 3,025 per tonne during the auctions.This is considerably lower than the import price of INR 4,500 for the similar grade of coal.
Aluminium prices have dropped by over 20% year-on-year and are currently hovering at USD 1,460/mt. BALCO is committed to maintaining the competitiveness of its products amidst the global downturn in commodities. Seamless supply of coal through the Chotia Mine along with optimization of capex and opex will help in business sustainability as the company can produce aluminium at more affordable rates.
Vedanta Limited (Vedanta Ltd) is a diversified natural resources company, whose business primarily involves exploring and processing minerals and oil & gas. The Company produces oil & gas, zinc, lead, silver, copper, iron ore, aluminium and commercial power and has a presence across India, South Africa, Namibia, Ireland, Australia, Liberia and Sri Lanka.
Vedanta Ltd, formerly Sesa Sterlite Ltd. is the Indian subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Plc, a London-listed company. Governance and Sustainable Development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety and environment and on enhancing the lives of local communities. Vedanta Ltd is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange in India and has ADRs listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
President - Group Sustainability, CSR and Communications
Tel: +91 22 6646 1000
gc@vedanta.co.in
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This press release contains 'forward-looking statements' - that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as 'expects,' 'anticipates,' 'intends,' 'plans,' 'believes,' 'seeks,' 'should' or 'will.' Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and metals markets including the London Metal Exchange, fluctuations in interest and or exchange rates and metal prices; from future integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different that those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.
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