After the shutdown of Vedanta Aluminium's one-million tonne alumina refinery at Lanjigarh on December 5, the Odisha government seems to have woken up, albeit belatedly, to the raw material crisis that has stalked the company for last five years.

In a bid to help revive operations of the Lanjigarh refinery, the steel & mines department has started the process of identifying prospected bauxite deposits where mining operations can commence with the statutory clearances.