Nine firms fight it out for GMDC's aluminium plant

After two revised deadlines, Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation （GMDC） has managed to get nine responses for its Rs 14,000-crore aluminium project in Kutch, Gujarat. The companies are UltraTech Cement, Gujarat Foils, JSW Aluminium, Nalco, Aluchem （USA）, Dubai Aluminium （Dubai）, Jaiprakash Associates, Adani Group and Jindal Steel and Power.

What is interesting to note is that non-aluminium companies like Jaiprakash Associates, Jindal Steel and Power and UltraTech Cement have shown interest in the business. A GMDC official, who wasn’t authorised to speak to the media, confirmed the above names.

“Nine bids have been received and now the process of evaluation of the expression of interests （EoIs） will begin,” the official added.

The official did not give a timeline as to when will GMDC decide on which company to partner with. Managing Director V S Gadhvi could not be reached for a comment.

According to GMDC official, UltraTech, an Aditya Birla group company, Jindal Steel and Power and Jaiprakash Associates have also shown interest in setting up the aluminium plant. However, when contacted, the spokesperson of UltraTech declined to comment, terming it as “market speculation”。 The group has its aluminium business under its flagship company, Hindalco, and that too declined to comment for the story.

Calls and messages to Sushil Maroo, deputy managing director, Jindal Steel and Power failed to illicit any response.

A spokesperson for Jaiprakash Associates, did not comment for the story. However, an official, on the condition of anonymity confirmed that the company had bid for the plant. “The company has a good presence in the state （Bhuj）. Diversification is always a part of the game,” the official said.

November 29 was the last date for companies to submit their EoIs. The deadline for the EoIs was revised twice citing “lack” of competition.

Gujarat Foils, in a statement, said the company had joined hands with the world’s largest aluminium company, Rusal （Russia）, to bid for the project. The company said, “Gujarat Foils Ltd shall submit EoI for the proposed project in joint collaboration with Rusal on November 29, 2010 The total investment for the project would be approximately Rs 14,000 crore.” The company further said that the detailed terms of joint relationship would be discussed mutually in due course between the two.

B L Bagra, director （finance）, Nalco confirmed the company’s interest in the project. He said, “Yes, we have put in our EoI. We qualified for the terms and conditions for the project and that is why submitted our bid. There are no details available at this point in time but our estimate states that the project will cost around Rs 10,000 crore.”

GMDC had invited an EoI from interested companies for a 1-million tonne alumina refinery and a half a million tonne aluminium smelter in the Kutch region of Gujarat. The bauxite requirement for the project will be supplied by GMDC through its captive mines.

The company states that its bauxite mines in the Kutch region are enough to last a project this size for 25-30 years.