Days after sending a notice to the Odisha government on September 6, seeking temporary closure of its one million tonne refinery at Lanjigarh, Vedanta Aluminium Ltd (VAL), a unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc has sought ban on bauxite exports from the country.

The company is struggling to keep its refinery operations afloat with the plant running at barely 50 per cent capacity amid deepening uncertainties in bauxite availability. VAL has not been allotted any mine in Odisha and fully depends on external bauxite supplies to run its refinery.