Vedanta Aluminium transforming lives of farmers in Jharsuguda

18th October 2022

  • Through ‘Jeevika Samriddhi’ project, income of farmers increases by nearly 50%

Jharsuguda, Odisha; 18th October 2022: Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest producer of aluminium, has been transforming the lives of farmers in Jharsuguda, Odisha, through its Jeevika ‘Samriddhi’ project. This initiative is envisaged as a sustainable livelihood project in agriculture, which aims to introduce small and marginal farmers to better, more efficient, and sustainable methods of farming, thereby increasing their quantum of yield and sustained return on agricultural investments. Now in the second phase of its operations, the project, has positively impacted over 300 farming households across five villages of Jharsuguda, namely, Siriapali, Keldamal, Gudigaon, Katikela and Kurebaga. 

Vedanta’s Jeevika Samriddhi project has had a far-reaching impact on the agricultural landscape of the region, including:

  • Monthly income of 77% of the farmers has increased by nearly 50% 
  • Most of the farmers involved in the project, are engaged in cultivation round the year due to improved irrigation facilities
  • Farmers are now less dependent on monsoons for cropping
  • Adoption of cash crops has also increased, contributing to better revenues for the farmers
  • Increase in diversity of crops produced, with farmers being provided resources for new vegetables 
  • In the last fiscal, more than 20 trainings (4,400 training hours) were imparted to the farmers by agricultural scientists from Krishi Vigyan Kendra, horticulture officers from government line departments, etc. on areas such as crop planning & management, post-harvest management, Package of Practices (PoP), etc.

Speaking about the company’s endeavours to create sustainable livelihoods for local communities, Mr. Sunil Gupta, CEO of Vedanta Ltd., Jharsuguda, said, “Creating sustainable livelihoods is a key focus area in our community development efforts. To that end, we run several high-impact projects on skill development, women’s empowerment, agriculture, entrepreneurship, etc. at Jharsuguda. With agriculture as the primary source of livelihood in the region, and its criticality towards ensuring food security and proper nutrition for the local communities, we have taken it upon us to work with farmers on improving their access to better agricultural practices, new technologies, effective land & water management techniques, etc. Our Jeevika Samridhhi project is fast becoming a holistic solution for farmers in Jharsuguda to improve yield and household income.”

Vedanta’s social interventions in the domains of sustainable livelihood, quality education, women empowerment, health, water and sanitation, bio-investment and community infrastructure reach out to over 79 villages in Jharsuguda and nearby areas, benefiting nearly 1.7 lakh people in a year. It empowers more than 4000 women from over 339 SHGs, provides doorstep healthcare services to about 32,000 people annually, gives educational support to more than 6400 students, has planted more than 1.48 lakh trees in partnership with locals at the community level.

Vedanta Aluminium, a business of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of aluminium, manufacturing more than half of India’s aluminium i.e., 2.26 million tonnes in FY22. Vedanta Aluminium ranks 4th in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) 2021 world rankings for aluminium industry, a reflection of its sustainable development practices. The company operates a world-class 1.75 MTPA aluminium smelter and 3615 MW thermal power generation facility at Jharsuguda, in Odisha. The only Indian smelter in the global ‘1 Million Tonne’ production and export club, Vedanta Jharsuguda is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications across core industries. With its state-of-the-art facilities, unparalleled engineering prowess, R&D and innovation abilities, the company is working towards a sustainable and greener future for all by spurring emerging applications of aluminium, the ‘Metal of the Future’.

About Vedanta Limited:

Vedanta Limited, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources Limited, is one of the world’s leading Oil & Gas and Metals company with significant operations in Oil & Gas, Zinc, Lead, Silver, Copper, Iron Ore, Steel, and Aluminium & Power across India, South Africa and Namibia. For two decades, Vedanta has been contributing significantly to nation building. Governance and sustainable development are at the core of Vedanta's strategy, with a strong focus on health, safety, and environment. Vedanta has put in place a comprehensive framework to be the ESG leader in the natural resources sector. Vedanta is committed to reducing carbon emissions to zero by 2050 or sooner and has pledged $5 billion over the next 10 years to accelerate the transition to net zero operations. Giving back is in the DNA of Vedanta, which is focused on enhancing the lives of local communities. The company’s flagship social impact program, Nand Ghars, have been set up as model anganwadis focused on eradicating child malnutrition, providing education, healthcare, and empowering women with skill development. Under the aegis of the Anil Agarwal Foundation, the umbrella entity for Vedanta’s social initiatives, the Vedanta group has pledged Rs 5000 crore over the next five years on social impact programmes with a thrust on nutrition, women & child development, healthcare, animal welfare, and grass-root level sports. Vedanta and the group companies have been featured in Dow Jones Sustainability Index, and was conferred Frost & Sullivan Sustainability Awards 2020, Golden Peacock Award for excellence in Corporate Governance 2022 and certified as a Great Place to Work 2022. Vedanta Limited is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange.

For more information, please visit www.vedantalimited.com

About Vedanta Aluminium Business:

Vedanta Aluminium, a business of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of aluminium, manufacturing more than half of India’s aluminium i.e., 2.29 million tonnes in FY23. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. Vedanta Aluminium ranks 1st in the S&P Global Corporate Sustainability Assessment 2023 world rankings for the aluminium industry, a reflection of its leading sustainable development practices. With its world-class aluminium smelters, alumina refinery and power plants in India, the company fulfils its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.

For more information, please log on to www.vedantaaluminium.com

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This press release contains “forward-looking statements” – that is, statements related to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address our expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as “expects,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “seeks,” “should” or “will.” Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain. For us, uncertainties arise from the behaviour of financial and metals markets including the London Metal Exchange, fluctuations in interest and or exchange rates and metal prices; from future integration of acquired businesses; and from numerous other matters of national, regional, and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business, competitive or regulatory nature. These uncertainties may cause our actual future results to be materially different than those expressed in our forward-looking statements. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements.