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 Rs 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.

Ajay Kapur, CEO – Aluminium & Power and MD – Commercial, Vedanta, 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, 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:

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 one lakh Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) worth Rs 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, 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.