Following it an extract from a report from Ecomic Times.

The $7-billion metals-to-power group , Vedanta Resources, on Friday invited companies to build cement plants in Orissa near its thermal power facilities by using fly ash, a by-product of burning coal and a key ingredient for making cement. Vedanta said it will keep open the option to partner prospective companies in the venture.

Vedanta has asked interested companies to submit plans by the first week of September. The fly ash will come from the coal-based power plants owned by Sterlite Industries, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources.

According to Vedanta’s statement, the power plants will generate about 8MT of fly ash. Industry experts said that a tonne of fly ash produces an equal amount of cement. But the by-product from Sterlite’s plants may also be used to feed brick manufacturing units and other ash utilising units in and around Jharsguda, said executives.

Sterlite had recently floated an energy subsidiary – Sterlite Energy – to build thermal power plants in Orissa’s Jharsguda district, with a combined capacity of 2,400 MW.

The power plants, to be built at an investment of $2 billion, will come up by 2009, Sterlite had announced earlier. Sterlite had earlier this year raised about $2 billion in the US market, to be mainly used for funding the power projects.