Anrak Aluminium Limited (AAL), a joint venture of Penna Group and Ras Al Khaimah Investment Authority, is making efforts to arrive at a one-time settlement with the SBI-led consortium for commissioning the 1.5-million tonne alumina refinery set up at Rachapalli, about 80 km from here.
After acquisition of 2,300 acres through the AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation in the Makavarapalem area, the project proponent completed the construction of the refinery and 72x3 MW captive power plant in 2013 with a total investment of ₹6,000 crore — almost half of it as loan through the consortium.
The insolvency proceedings pending before the National Company Law Tribunal were recently stayed by the High Court on a petition submitted by AAL.
Though the tribal areas of Visakhapatnam contain huge deposits of bauxite ore, several attempts to allow mining by the powers-that-be failed due to opposition from tribal and political groups.
Post-bifurcation, the Telugu Desam government scrapped the MoU signed with AAL for supply of bauxite ore from Jerrela and other blocks through the AP Mineral Development Corporation, dealing a blow to the project.
The MoU was cancelled citing
discrepancies pointed out by the Comptroller and Accountant General of India.
NPA tag
“Even before launching of production, the banks declared the loans advanced by them as NPA. Now we are in advanced stage of coming to a settlement for removal of NPA tag and launching the refinery operations by sourcing bauxite ore from Gujarat and Odisha and also outside India,” AAL Vice President (Works) L.S. Rao told The Hindu.
The MoU for the investment by AAL was inked by the undivided Andhra Pradesh in 2007. The company sourced three lakh tonnes ore through the Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation in 2012. It also bought 60,000 tonnes extracted from Kodangmali mines through Orissa Mining Company in an auction.
“We also want to source our raw material from Australia, Guinea and Indonesia to ensure continuous production at our refinery,” Mr. Rao said.
The company at present provided direct employment to 200 and indirect to 400. “Once we start operations, the direct employment will go up to 500 and the indirect employment to over 2,000 benefiting mostly the people from the project-affected areas,” he said.