NALCO 2nd phase expansion nearing completion

New Delhi, Dec 17 (PTI) Mines Minister B K Handique today said the Rs 4,402-crore expansion project of the National Aluminium Corporation Ltd (NALCO) will be completed shortly. "The ongoing second phase expansion project of NALCO at an investment of Rs 4,402 crore is nearing completion. One unit of 120 MW captive power plant out of two units, has been commissioned since August, 2009," Handiqe said in a statement after chairing the second meeting of the Consultative Committee attached to the Ministry of Mines. The company went ahead with its expansion programme at a time when other companies had undertaken cost cutting measures in the backdrop of the economic recession and consequent downturn in the auto sector hitting aluminium industries hard, he said. He said the company was also exploring possibilities to set up new smelters--used for extracting metals from their ores--and power plants in Indonesia and Iran.