Vedanta emerged as highest bidder for Jamkhani coal block in Odisha

New Delhi: Vedanta Ltd on Wednesday said it has emerged as the highest bidder for Jamkhani coal block in Sundargarh district, Odisha, in the 10th tranche of captive coal block auction conducted by the government.

The coal block is in proximity to the company's Jharsuguda aluminium smelter.

The Jamkhani coal block is one of the most attractive coal blocks for the company's Jharsuguda plant in terms of location, annual capacity, reserves and readiness to produce.

The approved per annum capacity of the mine is 2.6 million tonnes, it said in a release.

"It has an extractable reserve of 114 million tonnes. Once operational, it will provide fuel security, improve power availability and further strengthen the company's aluminium operations and performance".

This is the company's second coal block after Chotia coal block in Chhattisgarh that has an annual capacity of 1 million tonne.

Vedanta Limited is a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited.

Meanwhile, Vedanta special economic zone (SEZ) in Odisha has sought governemnt permission to locally procure calcined petroleum coke for its unit to manufacture aluminium ingots and wire rod.

The request of the company will be considered by the board of approval, the highest decision-making body on SEZs, in its meeting on November 15 here. The inter-ministerial board is chaired by the commerce secretary.

The company has to seek this approval as procuring any material from outside SEZs is treated as imports. SEZs are treated as foreign entities in terms of customs rules.

Import of petroleum coke used for fuel purpose is prohibited.

"The unit has requested for permission for local procurement of calcined petroleum coke for their authorised operations. But as per a notification...issued by the commerce ministry, petroleum coke is a prohibited item," according to the agenda paper of the board.

However, it said that the state pollution control board of Odisha has allowed the SEZ unit to buy this coke from indigenous source.