Metal major gives state a miss

Metal major gives state a miss

The Telegraph (Kolkota)

Jamshedpur, Nov. 27: The beeline of MoUs in the state notwithstanding, mining major Vedanta has decided to give Jharkhand a miss, at least for the time being.

S. Venkatesh, president of the human resource group of the company, said this while addressing the CEO forum at XLRI.

During the session, Venkatesh laid emphasis on the various mining projects undertaken by Vedanta to rank itself as one of the top five metal producers in the world.

Vedanta, however, is a subsidiary of the Bangalore-based Sterlite Industries Private Ltd and is the only Indian company to get a primary listing in the London Stock Exchange.

Ironically, the company has today invested in a multi million crore project in Orissa and Chhattisgarh but somehow Jharkhand has been completely left out of its agenda.

Venkatesh said: "We would surely like to explore new opportunities in the state but for now we are not making any investment in Jharkhand," said Venkatesh.

While a 2,400 MW power plant is coming up in Jharsugoda and a similar project is also in the pipeline in Chhattisgarh, the HR president, said, if the situation changes, the company might be interested in the state's coal mines.

"We are not interested in selling coal. What we are looking at is taking coal mines and using the coal for our power plants and other mining units, but that would only happen if the state government opens up its bid for privatisation of coal mines in the state," he added.

The corporate head also showed concern on the lack of enthusiasm among engineering students in taking up careers in mining.