Kolkata: Anil Agarwal's family left Bengal when he was young. On Wednesday he came back with a number.
The Vedanta chairman said the group is exploring investment of ₹70,000-80,000 crore in West Bengal, split between power generation and an aluminium smelter. If it happens, it will be the $30-billion group's first investment in the state.
Agarwal met Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari at Nabanna, the state secretariat, and then spoke to reporters. "The chief minister told me that I could explore investment in any sector, and I said I would look at it. I promised him that thousands of jobs would be created."
Adhikari put the employment figure at 10,000 direct jobs. "Agarwal told me that he wants to invest in Bengal. He will set up a factory in Paschim Bardhaman's Asansol. They have plans which will generate direct employment opportunities for 10,000 people. There could be indirect employment opportunities also," the Chief Minister said. "I assured the group of full cooperation from West Bengal."
The land question has an old answer. Vedanta's subsidiary BALCO holds about 270-300 acres at Bidhanbag near Asansol, which once housed what Agarwal described as Asia's oldest aluminium factory before it shut. "The state government has assured them of land, coal and water," the group said. More land may still be needed.
Alumina, the raw material, would come from Vedanta's operations in Odisha, including Jharsuguda, moved by the existing rail network. Coal and water access and timely clearances will decide whether the numbers hold.
Nothing is signed. "We would like to see the state government's keenness and commitment. To start with, we would do a feasibility study," Agarwal said, adding that the projects could be running within three years if the state moved quickly.
There is a precedent that did not end well. During Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's tenure as chief minister, Vedanta had proposed a ₹20,000-crore smelter and captive power plant at Bidhanbag. It never came up.
Agarwal, speaking earlier at an Indian Chamber of Commerce event, said the state had the minerals, the manpower and the women's workforce to become an industrial hub again. "West Bengal was the biggest industrial hub. There is no better place because we have everything here," he said.
He also restated group targets: revenue of $50 billion and profit of $20 billion within two years, on the back of domestic demand. "We need all our natural resources. We can't depend on imports," he said.
Experts quoted by The Times of India estimate 30,000-40,000 jobs once downstream aluminium units come up around the smelter.