Engineering and construction giant Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has made a renewed bid to secure mining rights over Sijimali and Kutrumali bauxite deposits across Kalahandi and Rayagada districts after the enforcement of the Mines & Minerals (Development & Regulation) Act, MMDR Act, 2015.

Since L&T already has a prospecting license (PL) over these twin deposits, it is hopeful to bag them. Both Kutrumali and Sijimali have combined reserve of 300 million tonne of bauxite.

"Under the new MMDR Act, L&T is eligible to get mining rights over the two bauxite deposits since we have the PL. We have requested the state government to recommend mining lease in our favour and also expedite permissions for our alumina refinery project," said L&T's group executive chairman A M Naik after meeting Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Naik also called on chief secretary G C Pati and principal secretary (steel & mines) R K Sharma.

L&T had won PL for Sijimali and Kutrumali bauxite mines in 1992. But the PL had expired two years later, after which the state government had denied mining lease (ML) to L&T since it had no end-use plant.

In 2005, L&T through a joint venture with Dubai Aluminium (Dubal), had proposed a Rs 30,000 crore aluminium complex comprising three million tonne per annum (mtpa) alumina refinery at Rayagada, 1.5 mtpa smelter plant and a captive power plant (CPP). Though a special purpose vehicle (SPV) called Raykal Aluminium was formed for the purpose, the project has so far remained a non-starter.

Seven years later, in 2012 when Dubal walked out of the SPV, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (now Vedanta Ltd) bought 24 per cent stake in the project. The grant of ML to L&T over the bauxite deposits can come to the rescue of Vedanta refinery at Lanjigarh, which is facing raw material crunch due to denial of supplies from Niyamgiri mines on environmental grounds and local protests. The refinery is currently keeping its operation barely afloat by importing bauxite from states like Chhatisgarh and Andhra Pradesh and also places abroad like New Guinea.

The state government is yet to take a decision on grant of ML to L&T over the bauxite mines. This is despite a legal opinion in favour of L&T by the government's Supreme Court counsel Uday U Lalit in July 2013. The counsel had also opined that long-term supplies to Vedanta's refinery from the two bauxite deposits of L & T is legally tenable. Apart from the proposed alumina refinery, L&T has a presence in the state as turnkey contractor for projects in sectors such as roads and healthcare. "Presently, we are doing the Sambalpur-Rourkela highway widening project involving a cost of Rs 1,500 crore," said Naik.