National Aluminium May Delay Bauxite Mine Expansion - Exec

NEW DELHI (Dow Jones)--State-run National Aluminium Co. (532234.BY) is likely to delay the expansion of its bauxite mine in the eastern state of Orissa after an attack by Maoist rebels earlier this month, a senior company executive said Monday. "The earlier schedule of June-July (2009) will be difficult to meet," P.K. Mohapatra, executive director incharge of mines and refinery, told Dow Jones Newswires. "Right now, the focus is bringing normalcy to our operations." Nalco had planned to invest INR722.7 million to expand the mine's annual production capacity to 6.3 million metric tons from 4.8 million tons currently, according to the company's Web site. The expanded capacity was scheduled to come on stream in mid-2009. -By Rakesh Sharma, Dow Jones Newswires; +91-11-4356-3334; rakesh.sharma@dowjones.com Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/access/al?rnd=Q0Me9Uo%2FueMDVr9uImXNeg%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.