Rs 1,500-cr expansion project of Utkal Alumina Refinery in Odisha inaugurated

Bhubaneswar/Rayagada: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today inaugurated the expansion project of Utkal Alumina Refinery at Kashipur in Rayagada virtually. With this expansion, the production capacity of Utkal Alumina, a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Group, has been enhanced to 1.5 million ton to 2 million ton per annum.

A total of Rs 1,500 crore has been invested for Utkal Alumina’s expansion. More than 500 people have been employed for this new unit.

Speaking on the occasion, Patnaik said, “The economy of Odisha is bouncing back from the adverse impacts of the pandemic and we are back to track.”

The CM added that investors are expanding their existing projects in Odisha in spite of the impact of the Covid pandemic. We have attracted investments to the tune of over Rs 4.5 lakh crore since the pandemic.

He further said the State’s GST collection in July this year has also registered a 54 per cent growth during the corresponding period of the previous year.

Speaking on Aditya Birla Group’s contribution towards the development of Odisha, the CM said, ”It has been a key player in our journey of industrial development with their meaningful presence spanning across sectors like metals, cement, financial services, apparel and retail.”

Worth mentioning, Utkal Alumina was set up in Rayagada in 1993 with an investment of Rs 8,600 crore. The Aditya Birla Group employs more than 12,000 people in Odisha, a 10% of its global workforce.

Aditya Birla Group’s Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla joined the programme through virtual mode and said that Odisha has emerged as the top-most investment destination for the company.

Hindalco Industries Ltd’s MD Satish Pai, who attended the programme, stated, “The Utkal Alumina expansion and Hindalco’s downstream capacity addition in Aditya and Hirakud will make Odisha home to one of the largest and most modern flat-rolled aluminium product plants in the world with world-class technologies from our American subsidiary Novelis.”

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