Nalco looking at SA

India's state-owned National Aluminium Company (Nalco) may construct a 500,000 ton-a-year aluminium plant in South Africa. South Africa has agreed to extend all possible assistance, including facilitation regarding the use of local raw materials. According to a report in India's daily newspaper The Hindu, preliminary discussions related to the setting up of the plant were held earlier this week when India's Minister of State for Mines Subbarami Reddy met his counterpart Sandile Nogxina, director-general of South Africa's Department of Minerals and Energy (DME). Reddy accompanied Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Nigeria and South Africa this week. The report said Nogxina assured the Reddy that South Africa "would extend all possible support along with access to local mineral resources for Nalco to do the value addition". Incorporated in 1981 as a public sector enterprise of the Government of India, Nalco hosts Asia's largest integrated aluminium complex, encompassing bauxite mining, alumina refining, aluminium smelting and casting, power generation, rail and port operations. The complex, commissioned during 1985 to 1987, Nalco produces alumina and aluminium for domestic and export markets. During the discussions, Reddy also expressed India's eagerness to avail itself of the services of South Africa's Mine Qualification Authority so that India's mining companies could gain access to the latest mining technology. The Hindu report stated that it was also agreed that South African training facilities would be set up for mining technicians in India and that India would send technicians, engineers and geo-scientists to South Africa for training. Reddy also encouraged the DME to convince South African mining giants to invest in the Indian mining sector. India is a leader in diamond cutting and polishing technology as well as jewellery industry. The establishment of these industries would be welcomed in South Africa, which is encouraging increased beneficiation of natural resources. South Africa, India and Brazil ion Thursday committed to increasing trade among the three countries to more than US$15 billion by 2010. Meanwhile, Vantage Mezzanine Fund has predicted that South Africa would be on the receiving end of large capital inflows in the months and years ahead. Addressing an investor conference in Johannesburg, chairman Ian Heron, said South Africa was in a unique position to benefit from the infrastructure spend that was gaining momentum not only in South Africa but in the entire African continent. He said South Africa also stood to benefit from the pending trading bloc comprising South Africa, Brazil, India and China. Essop Pahad, minister in the Office of the Presidency of South Africa, who was in Mumbai recently to attend the Indo-South Africa trade conference, told India's Economic Times that there were huge opportunities for investment in infrastructure development and the power sector in India. "In particular to investors from South Africa, there are lots of opportunities in the mining sector, especially deep mining. This is a sector where South African firms have a lot of expertise," Pahad said. India has witnessed quite phenomenal growth for the past few years. No other country in the world, except China, has shown this kind of growth. Pahad said the Indian government's thrust on the deregulation of the Indian economy also augured well for foreign investors. "One can also learn from the way Indian corporates have gone about their expansion on the global stage," he said.