Nalco to hike smelting capacity by 30%

Bangalore: National Aluminium Co (Nalco), will resort to technological innovation to jack up smelting capacity by 30%, or 1.1 lakh tonnes, by upgrading at its facility at Angul in Orissa. The move comes even as the navratna public sector unit is mulling a third phase of expansion during 12th Plan period that will increase capacity by a whopping 5.8 lakh tonnes at a cost of Rs 6,000 crore. Interestingly, the tech upgradation at Angul will cost just Rs 600 crore. "This capacity addition will be cheaper by 40% due to the advanced technology that we will deploy," A K Sharma, director (production), told DNA Money. Nalco's aluminium smelting capacity stands at 3.61 lakh tonnes. Sharma said this new 1.1 lakh tonne capacity addition is not part of the ongoing phase II of expansion.Phase II is currently under implementation at a cost of Rs 4,400 crore. It will take total smelting capacity to 4.6 lakh tonnes and refinery capacity to 21 lakh tonnes, coupled with a 1,200 mw power generation plant. Referring to status of the expansion plan, Sharma said, "While targeted aluminium smelting capacity will be achieved by December, full fledged power generation capacity will be completed by March 2010." Full capacity utilisation for the alumina refinery at the Damanjodi facility will be achieved by December 2010, he added. About uncertainties over the proposed Rs 16,000 crore greenfield plant at Jharsuguda, Sharma said, "Though we have completed the feasibility study for the proposed plant, the Orissa government is yet to give us environmental clearance."