CEMENT
Cement
grade limestone and clay are the two important
raw materials for the cement industry. The
product itself being of low per unit value,
low transport charges in relation to the availability
of the raw materials is an essential requirement.
Considering all this, two cement factories
have been located at Rajgangpur and Bargarh.
They have an annual capacity of 771,000 tonnes.
The Rajgangpur cement factory is raw material
based. It gets its supplies from the Raibaga,
Rajgapur and Panposh area. The Hira cement
plant at Bargarh is being expanded. A cement
factory has been established at Rourkela based
on slag from the steel plant. Thus, this solves
the problem of slag disposal which was posing
an environmental problem. Another cement factory
is operating at Hirakud based on cement grade
limestone from the nearby regions.
INDIAN
RARE EARTH
This
project was set up in 1978 at Gopalpur by
the Atomic Energy Commission. It is based
on illiminite which is found in abundance
on the Gopalpur coast. Gopalpur Port is being
developed as an all-weather port to export
rare earth and iron and steel.
CERAMIC
GLASS AND REFRACTORY UNITS
For
manufacturing glass, silica and soda ash are
mixed and limestone is added to make glass
harder. Maganese dioxide is used to correct
the greenish tint. Other colouring agents
like chromites and cobalt are used for manufacturing
glass of special quality. While the raw materials
are mostly 'weight losing', the finished products
are fragile. Ceramic glass and refractory
units are located at Barang, Khansbahal, Rajgangpur
and Latikata. A refractory and ceramic unit
is also operating at Jharmigudi.
FERRO-MANGANESE
Ferro-manganese
plants are located at Joda in Kenjhar district
and Rayagada. For these plants adequate supply
of raw material is available and they are
ore-based. These plants are also well served
by the railways. They get an adequate supply
of hydel power from the Hirakud and Machkund
hydro-electric projects. The products are
also suitable for export. A ferro-chrome plant
at Jajpur road in Jajpur district and a ferro-silicon
plant at Tiruvali in Koraput district are
operating. A pig iron plant at Badbil is also
working in Kendujhar district. All these plants
are ore-based as the ore is bulky and cheap.
ALUMINIUM
An
aluminum factory was set up at Hirakud during
the first plan itself. It is a joint venture
with Canada cheap hydel power is supplied
from Hirakud. A cable factory has also been
located there recently which has taken advantage
of the aluminum products of the factory.
National
Aluminum Company Limited (NALCO)
NALCO
was set up at Bhubaneswar in 1981 in collaboration
with aluminum pechiney of France. It is an
integrated alumnina/aluminium complex. This
plant is one of the most modern in the world
and the biggest in Asia. After it started
production, India has not only become self-sufficient
in aluminium production but has started exporting.
Port facilities for export of bauxite, alumina
and aluminium are available at Visakhapatnam
and Paradeep.
NALCO
has an alumina plant at Damanjodi for
refining of bauxite ore, with a plant capacity
of 0.8 million tonnes per annum. It is located
at the foothills of the Panchpatmali. NALCO's
captive power plant is located at Angul to
which 2.4 million tonnes of coal is being
supplied from Talcher.
