AgenciesHyderabad: Andhra Pradesh is thinking of acquiring Ras-Al-Khaimah Investment Authority’s (Rakia’s) stake in joint venture Anrak Aluminium, in a bid to settle the dispute after several years under international arbitration.
The state government recently constituted a committee of senior officials headed by its mining secretary Gopala Krishna Dwivedi to explore various options to resolve the arbitration proceedings by Rakia against India.
Other options being explored include refunding Rakia’s investment through the AP Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC), facilitating bauxite supplies to Anrak’s Aluminium refinery project, or an ‘out of court’ settlement with the UAE entity.
“A six-member committee of senior officials was constituted following the decision by an inter-ministerial group that had decided in a November 19 meeting to work out various possible alternatives to resolve the issue of international arbitration raised by Rakia,” a senior official in the state’s mines and geology ministry told ET, seeking anonymity.
The official said the central government had nominated the Dr Veena Kumari Dermal, joint secretary in the Union Ministry of Mines, to the panel.
Andhra Pradesh is estimated to have over 600 million tonnes of bauxite reserves in the Eastern Ghats, accounting for nearly 22% of India’s bauxite reserves and second only to neighbouring Odisha, which is estimated to possess over 2,000 million tonnes. Companies such as Nalco and Hindalco mine bauxite in Odisha. Undivided Andhra Pradesh had inked a government-to-government (G2G) agreement with the UAE’s state-owned entity in 2007 under then chief minister, the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy.
The Reddy government had assured supply of bauxite from APMDC to the joint venture -- which had proposed setting up an aluminium refining plant and smelter involving an investment of around 6,000 crore -- as well as to Jindal South West Aluminium.
However, the Telugu Desam Party government headed by N Chandrababu Naidu, which came to power in 2014, annulled the bauxite supply agreements with these two entities.
The state government recently constituted a committee of senior officials headed by its mining secretary Gopala Krishna Dwivedi to explore various options to resolve the arbitration proceedings by Rakia against India.
Other options being explored include refunding Rakia’s investment through the AP Mineral Development Corporation (APMDC), facilitating bauxite supplies to Anrak’s Aluminium refinery project, or an ‘out of court’ settlement with the UAE entity.
“A six-member committee of senior officials was constituted following the decision by an inter-ministerial group that had decided in a November 19 meeting to work out various possible alternatives to resolve the issue of international arbitration raised by Rakia,” a senior official in the state’s mines and geology ministry told ET, seeking anonymity.
The official said the central government had nominated the Dr Veena Kumari Dermal, joint secretary in the Union Ministry of Mines, to the panel.
Andhra Pradesh is estimated to have over 600 million tonnes of bauxite reserves in the Eastern Ghats, accounting for nearly 22% of India’s bauxite reserves and second only to neighbouring Odisha, which is estimated to possess over 2,000 million tonnes. Companies such as Nalco and Hindalco mine bauxite in Odisha. Undivided Andhra Pradesh had inked a government-to-government (G2G) agreement with the UAE’s state-owned entity in 2007 under then chief minister, the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy.
The Reddy government had assured supply of bauxite from APMDC to the joint venture -- which had proposed setting up an aluminium refining plant and smelter involving an investment of around 6,000 crore -- as well as to Jindal South West Aluminium.
However, the Telugu Desam Party government headed by N Chandrababu Naidu, which came to power in 2014, annulled the bauxite supply agreements with these two entities.
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