FFE Minerals India Pvt Ltd has it bagged a Rs.358 crore order from the Vedanta group to supply technology and equipment for its alumina project in Orissa. The project is scheduled to begin production in the first quarter of 2006.

FFE Minerals will be the primary technology supplier for feed preparation, calcination and product handling at the Lanjigarh site in Orissa's Kalahandi district.

FFE Minerals India bagged the orders for five packages in a competitive tender process. The five packages are for bauxite crushing and downhill conveying, bauxite stockpiling and reclaiming, a bauxite grinding plant, an alumina calcination plant and alumina storage and rail loading. Vedanta Resources had tendered separately for each of these packages, which form part of its 1.4 tpa alumina plant.

Of this, the alumina calcination package is the highest, valued at Rs.140 crore and the others at Rs.55-65 crore each. FFE Minerals would use equipment and systems from F.L. Smidth companies across the world.

The crushing technology will come from ABON Engineering, Australia and the long distance downhill pipe conveyor from CKIT, South Africa. The technology for bauxite stockpiling and reclaiming will come from MVT Material Handling, Germany and that for alumina handling, silo storage and loading into wagons from Moeller Material Handling of Germany.

Of the Rs.358-crore order, nearly Rs.320 crore would be executed by FFE Minerals India and the rest sourced from the group's companies. FFE Minerals will fabricate some of the equipment at KCP's plant at Tiruvottiyur, to the north of Chennai. (Till recently, the F.L. Smidth group had a joint venture in India with KCP, which went by the name of Fuller-KCP.)

The order was bagged in the midst of competition from companies like Larsen & Toubro, Outokumpu of Finland and TRF Ltd of the Tata group. FFE Minerals is also planning to bid for Indian Aluminium's expansion project.

FFE Minerals India Pvt Ltd is a fully-owned subsidiary of the FL Smidth Group of Denmark, which provides technology, equipment and plants to the cement and mineral processing industry.