World Water Day: Vedanta Aluminium conducts pond cleaning and awareness programmes in Jharsuguda

23rd March 2023

Jharsuguda, Odisha; 23rd March 2023: Vedanta Aluminium, India’s largest producer of aluminium, observed World Water Day 2023 by undertaking water conservation and awareness initiatives in Jharsuguda, Odisha. The company also undertook pond restoration and cleaning activities in Baghiamal pond, Jharsuguda with the active participation of employee volunteers and professional experts.

On the occasion, the company also conducted the ground-breaking ceremony for a new Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) at its operations. With a processing capacity of 440 kilo litres per day (KLD), the STP will reduce freshwater consumption of the plant by around 15 crore litres per year, taking a significant step towards becoming Net Water Positive by leveraging advanced technologies for efficient water utilisation.

Encouraging community members to work towards water conservation in their individual capacities, the company organized Nukkad Natak – street play sessions at local educational institutions and Maa Samleshwari Nagar, reaching out to more than 800 students and community members. Further, to create awareness on the importance of freshwater and biodiversity conservation, the company arranged a Birdwatching and Nature Photography session for employees and their family members at Singhabaga, the wetlands of Jharsuguda.

Speaking on the company’s commitment towards water conservation, Mr. Sunil Gupta, CEO – Vedanta Jharsuguda, said, “At Vedanta Aluminium, we firmly believe that our business growth must go hand in hand with environmental sustainability and that a sustainable future depends on responsible water management. Our aim is to increase water reutilization, reduce freshwater consumption, and strengthen community water infrastructure. As we celebrate World Water Day, we recommit to our mission of becoming net water positive and making more water available for local communities and biodiversity, ensuring positive ecological footprint and excellence in ESG.”

Vedanta Aluminium has taken several steps within its operations and in the community to ensure creating a positive water footprint, which involves:

Working with local communities:

  • Through Jeevika Samruddhi, Vedanta Aluminium’s sustainable livelihood project in agriculture, the company has been helping farming communities across Jharsuguda adopt advanced agricultural mechanisms like drip-irrigation, treadle pumps, solar powered water pumps, rainwater harvesting structures like percolation tanks, etc. to boost irrigation and reduce dependency on monsoons for cropping
  • Construction of community water infrastructures like Minor River Lift Irrigation Points (MLRP), Drip Irrigation, Check dams, Lift Irrigation (LI) Points/ CRLP (Community River Lift Irrigation points), and Solar irrigation points to help communities get perennial access to water for household and irrigation purposes to 226 acres of land with approximately 5250 CuM water storage capacity
  • Restoration and rejuvenation of over 19 community waterbodies in the vicinity of its operations in Jharsuguda, Odisha

Water management efforts at the operations:

  • Automated water management through cutting-edge technologies like Internet of Things (IoT)
  • Ensuring zero discharge operations by adopting stringent control measures and technologies
  • Partnering with TÜV SÜD, a global leader in sustainability solutions, to create the roadmap for Vedanta Aluminium to become net water positive
  • Creating Rainwater harvesting infrastructure and On-site water reservoirs for water sourcing during contingency scenarios

Vedanta Aluminium, a business of Vedanta Limited, is India’s largest producer of aluminium, manufacturing more than half of India’s aluminium i.e., 2.27 million tonnes in FY22. It is a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. Vedanta Aluminium ranks 2nd in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) 2022 world rankings for aluminium industry, a reflection of its 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.

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.