Tag: CEO – Aluminium & Power and MD – Commercial

Vedanta Limited, Lanjigarh
Business World

Vedanta rolls out lucrative scheme for MSMEs under ‘Saathi’programme, celebrating World MSME Week

Jun 29, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #CEO – Aluminium & Power and MD – Commercial, #Mr. Ajay Kapur, #Vedanta Ltd, #Vedanta Saathi

New Delhi: Vedanta Limited, India’s leading producer of metals and oil & gas, has rolled out an attractive promotional scheme for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the manufacturing industry in celebration of the World MSME Week. Under the company’sVedanta Saathi programme, MSMEs can avail a discount of INR 500 per tonne on the first 500 tonnes ofpurchase in Aluminium, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Steel and Pig Iron, on first come first served basis. The scheme will be live for this week, ending on 3rdJuly, 2021.

For eligibility, MSMEs must have manufacturing operations in the metals business, with an actual manufacturing setup and must possess Udyog Aadhaar Number (UAN) and Registration Certificate. To avail the scheme and get full details, interested MSMEs can register on the Vedanta Saathi website (www.vedantasaathi.com) and send an enquiry to saathi@vedanta.co.in, following which Vedanta’s sales teams will reach out to them.

With a significant MSME customer and supplier base, Vedanta has been fostering the MSME ecosystem for over two decades through its expansive value-chain, supply-chain, and social-developmental programmes.Under Vedanta Saathi programme, the company offers various schemes, incentives, and opportunities for MSMEs, such as:

• Channel financing at attractive ratesand fast disbursement,in partnership with a host of leading banks, NBFCs and FinTech firms
• Soon to be launched e-commerce solutionsfor an agile, easy, and transparent way of buying from Vedanta’s entire bouquet of high-quality value-added products, with doorstep delivery through micro-logistics partners
• Avenues for technical upskillingwithaccess to the company’s wide community of research institutes, industry associations, in house and external global experts
• Opportunities for MSMEs to set up downstream/ancillary manufacturing units near Vedanta’s plants, with benefits like just-in-time delivery of raw material(hot metal supplies), low working capital and capex involvement
• Single window for MSMEs to interact with Vedanta’s Quality, Product Application,Engineering, and Innovation teams through a dedicated web portal

Speaking about Vedanta Saathi, Mr. Ajay Kapur, CEO – Aluminium & Power and MD – Commercial, Vedanta Ltd., said,“Postpandemic, we have been seeing significant restructuring in the global supply chain, as companies look to diversify their supply and service networks. This offers our MSMEs a huge opportunity to tap into the new markets with access to new-age technologies, opportunities to upskill, and quality raw materials. Besides getting integrated into these global supply chains, it will also improve MSME’s share of contribution to GDP which stands at only 7% now. Under Vedanta Saathi we have developed various initiatives that can help MSMEs accelerate this growth journey.”

Till date, more than 150 MSMEscustomers have availed channel financing to access a credit limit of ~INR 1000 Cr by leading banks and NBFCs. Vedanta is committed to grow this limit by 5x for MSME customers, adding more banks and NBFCs to its fold.

The company’s upcoming e-commerce offerings shall offer significant advantages for MSMEs like live pricing options, direct buy access to a diverse product portfolio with no bar on quantity, as well as easy delivery tracking and micro-logistics.

Vedanta also offers a ready community of industry associations, technical experts, and research institutes for collaboration with MSMEs to engineer new products, product applications and new markets for those applications, helping upskill MSMEs to match global standards. The company has dedicated teams to cater to customers’ requirements in quality, product application and engineering.

With the aim to bolster India’s vision of becoming a global manufacturing hub, Vedanta also offersopportunities for MSMEs to set up their ancillaries and downstream manufacturing facilities near its plants. Besides immensely benefiting MSMEs in terms of just-in-time access to raw materials, low working capital and capex involvement, and proximity to Vedanta’s Quality teams and expert network, it will also aid in significant employment generation locally and bring about a positive transformation in the quality of life of local communities.

7500+ people vaccinated by Vedanta at its plants in Odisha and Chhattisgarh
Business World, Health, News

7500+ people vaccinated by Vedanta at its plants in Odisha and Chhattisgarh

May 6, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #and Divisional Forest Officer, #CEO – Aluminium & Power and MD – Commercial, #COVID Care Centres, #Kalahandi, #Mr. Ajay Kapur, #Nodal Officer (COVID Operations), #Shri. T Ashok Kumar, #Southern Division, #Vedanta Aluminium & Power Business, #Vedanta Ltd

New Delhi: Vedanta Aluminium & Power Business, India’s largest producer of aluminium and value-added aluminium products, has accelerated the COVID vaccination initiative and vaccinated over 7500 of its people across its plants. Further, it has swiftly augmented the capacity of its COVID Care Centres and quarantine centres across its plant sites in remote areas of Odisha and Chhattisgarh to effectively handle the pandemic scenario around its areas of operations. With over 550 beds, Vedanta’s COVID Care Centres at Jharsuguda and Lanjigarh in Odisha, and BALCO in Korba, Chhattisgarh, are equipped with required infrastructure and medical personnel to provide proper care to those affected by COVID. Additionally, Quarantine Centres have been created for isolation and post-treatment recovery.

Vedanta is supporting the District COVID Hospital at Jharsuguda in treating the affected populace from the region. At the District COVID Hospital in Bhawanipatna at Kalahandi district, Odisha, the company is working to set up an oxygen generation facility. It has recently provided 10,000 RT PCR testing kits to the District Government Hospital at Bhawanipatna. Vedanta is also aiding local administrations in carrying out vaccination drives in the periphery. Its own hospitals are also in a state of preparedness to assist the respective district administrations in the fight against COVID. The company has plans to further augment COVID management efforts by both state governments and develop state-of-the-art field hospitals with all medical infrastructure specifically required for COVID treatment as needed.

To aid the ongoing efforts to manage the second wave of the pandemic, Vedanta Chairman, Mr. Anil Agarwal has pledged INR 150 Cr. Last year, Vedanta had contributed INR 201 Cr to the fight against COVID-19 in the form of contribution to the PM-CARES Fund, supporting livelihood of the daily wage workers across the nation, and giving preventive health care and support to all employees and business partners across its plant locations.

Mr. Ajay Kapur, CEO – Aluminium & Power and MD – Commercial, Vedanta Ltd., said, “As the entire country battles to overcome the pandemic, we are committed to supporting our people, partners, communities and government through this critical period. While ensuring continuity of our aluminium and power operations so as to fulfil the raw material needs of this strategic metal for the country, we are also intensively monitoring the COVID scenario at and around our plant sites. With all safeguards in place to prevent further spread of the disease at our plant and township, our healthcare staff is working round the clock to ensure proper care for anyone who has been affected. We are also working closely with respective district administrations, helping them keep our communities safe.”

Appreciating the company’s efforts, Shri. T Ashok Kumar, Nodal Officer (COVID Operations), and Divisional Forest Officer, Southern Division, Kalahandi, said, “Vedanta has come forward with all required support in the prevention of COVID-19, since the outbreak of the pandemic, in supporting the district health authorities. The spread of the disease can be contained with large-scale testing and timely isolation and treatment of the COVID positive patients. The provision of the RT PCR testing kits by Vedanta will facilitate the testing process for the general public in the district. This is reflective of the sense of responsibility and commitment Vedanta has towards its communities.”

The Office of the District Magistrate of Kalahandi, Odisha, also tweeted in appreciation of the joint endeavour by Vedanta Aluminium and Department of Health & Family Welfare, Govt. of Odisha, for providing RT PCR kits and other medical equipment to the fight against COVID.

To protect the workforce against the disease and provide care to the affected, the company has marshalled its resources across its plant locations to deploy various measures such as:

  • The company is conducting awareness drives to sensitize communities on COVID prevention and the benefits of vaccination, distributing sanitation kits, and conducting sanitization of public places in the communities and peripheral villages.
  • COVID Task Forces have been created for round-the-clock monitoring of the impact on the entire workforce and families of employees.
  • More than 7500 employees, families and business partners have been vaccinated till date, with plans for 100% vaccination of all eligible.
  • Business continuity plans with reduced workforce and minimum resources are in place.
  • All travel to and from plants and townships are currently restricted, with mandatory RT PCR negative report and isolation for anyone travelling due to personal exigencies.
  • Mass Rapid Antigen tests are being carried out in plants and townships.
    Sanitation and disinfection drives have been intensified in the plants.
  • Vedanta Hospital at Lanjigarh was the first Private COVID Vaccination Centre (PCVC) in Kalahandi to conduct vaccination drives.
  • Telemedicine Facility is being made available wherein patients can connect with the doctors through phone calls or WhatsApp voice calls to get consultation and e-prescription.

Last year, Vedanta Aluminium & Power Business Units had rolled out a slew of community outreach programmes benefitting over 10 lakh people in underserved regions of Odisha and Chhattisgarh. Nearly 1 lakh Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) worth INR 10 crores were provided to the Government of Odisha. More than 11,000 workers were provided meals along with other essentials across its plants, and up to a month’s supply of rations was distributed to over 5,000 daily wage earners, slum dwellers and marginal households around its operations. Vedanta’s Mobile Health Units worked with anganwadis staff to conduct intensive awareness campaigns across 120 villages. More than 2.5 lakh reusable masks were distributed to rural residents, district administration, police, media, and other frontline workers. Additionally, thousands of Vedanta employees and business partners had voluntarily contributed one day’s salary towards COVID relief.

Vedanta Aluminium & Power Business, a division of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of Aluminium, producing almost half of India’s Aluminium or 1.9 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in FY20, and is also one of the largest private power producers in the country. BALCO is a part of Vedanta’s Aluminium and Power Business. Vedanta is a leader in value-added Aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. With its world-class smelters, power plants and alumina refinery spread across India, the company fulfils its mission of spurring emerging applications of Aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.–

Mr. Ajay Kapur, CEO – Aluminium & Power and MD – Commercial, Vedanta Ltd.
Business World

Vedanta Aluminium scripts a double win at the National Energy Conservation Awards 2020

Jan 15, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #CEO – Aluminium & Power and MD – Commercial, #Mr. Ajay Kapur, #Vedanta Ltd

New Delhi: Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest producer of Aluminium and value-added products, won two first prizes at the prestigious National Energy Conservation Awards 2020 (NECA 2020), for exemplary efforts in energy conservation through best-in-class practices, technology adoption and innovative solutions. Instituted by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), Government of India, the NECA Awards witnesses participation by the best in business from across various critical industry sectors.

In a virtual award ceremony held on 11th January 2021, Vedanta Ltd’s Jharsuguda (Odisha) Smelter-I bagged ‘First Prize’ in Aluminium (Large) Sector while Vedanta Ltd., Lanjigarh (Odisha), was conferred with the ‘First Prize’ in Aluminium (Small) Sector. Both units have rolled out nearly 80 impactful initiatives over the past three years to scale-up energy efficiency at respective locations.

Speaking about the awards, Mr. Ajay Kapur, CEO – Aluminium & Power and MD – Commercial, Vedanta Ltd., said, “At Vedanta, we are cognizant of our responsibilities towards ensuring a responsible and sustainable business footprint as we rapidly adapt to an energy-conscious world. We regularly benchmark our energy consumption with the industry’s best and strive towards improving our specific energy consumption. Towards this, we not only improve our process energy efficiencies but also evaluate and incorporate new technologies that have the potential to provide a step change improvement in energy efficiencies. Winning the coveted National Energy Conservation Awards has bolstered our commitment to emerge as the world’s best, lowest cost, most energy efficient and sustainable aluminium producer.”

Vedanta Aluminium & Power’s business units have always been forerunners in the field of energy efficiency and sustainability. Some notable initiatives and major highlights are:

  • Vedanta’s aluminium smelter at Jharsuguda is India’s first, and the world’s third smelter to deploy Digital Smelter Solution, using digital twin technology, predictive and prescriptive analytics to enhance energy efficiency, reduce raw material consumption and arrest wastage of material through remote advisory system.
  • The Jharsuguda smelter is also the first aluminium smelter in Asia to receive ISO 50001 certificate for Energy Management System since 2013.
  • Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO), the iconic subsidiary of Vedanta Limited, achieved the lowest specific power consumption in potlines in 2020, setting a benchmark in India.
  • Reduction in indirect energy consumption by 8 million Giga Joules between FY19 and FY20 for the business.
  • Vedanta’s operations have a SCADA-based energy monitoring system wherein energy meters are connected to one server and reports are generated automatically. Portable flow meter and power meters have been installed to analyse load deviations.
  • 100% graphitized cathode installation in Jharsuguda’s potline resultedin energy conservation of over 49000 MWh per annum.
  • Initiatives to enhance operational excellence have resulted in reduction of thermal and electrical specific energy by 20% and 24% respectively, and overall specific energy consumption by 22% over the last five years at the Lanjigarh alumina refinery.
  • All business units have adopted Business Excellence models such as Six Sigma, Quality Circles, Kaizen, etc. to carry out energy conservation projects.
  • The business is actively exploring renewable energy sources like solar power, biomass and biogas to potentially reduce dependence on thermal power as the primary source of energy. In FY 20, more than 115 million units of renewable power was purchased by the business for consumption.
  • Against Vedanta’s commitment to reduce the GHG intensity by 16% by 2020 from a 2012 baseline, on completion of the year 2019-20, the Aluminium Business was able to reduce its GHG intensity by 20%.
  • Vedanta’s ‘Carbon Forum’, comprising representatives from each of our businesses, is actively working on the implementationof the company’s carbon mitigation approach.

Vedanta Aluminium & Power, a part of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of aluminium, producing almost half of India’s aluminium or 1.9 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) in FY20, and is also one of the largest private power producers in the country. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. With its world-class smelters, alumina refinery and power plants spread across India, the company fulfills its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.