Cabinet okays Nalco expansion plan

New Delhi: The cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved National Aluminium Company's (Nalco) Rs4,091.51 crore-expansion plans. The company, which is the country's second largest aluminium producer, plans to expand its refinery and mines capacity.

"The proposal was cleared and Nalco will generate 50 per cent of the funds required internally,'' Dasari Narayan Rao, minister of state for coals and mines. The company would raise 50 per cent of the funds needed via commercial borrowings.

The investment plan entails expansion of its aluminium, bauxite and alumina capacity. The funds would also be used to enhance the capacity of Nalco's 960-mw captive power plant to 1200mw.

Nalco will increase its bauxite production capacity to 6.3 million tonnes from its current 4.8 million tonnes, while the alumina refining capacity would be enhanced from 1.5 million tonnes to 2.1 million tonnes.

After the expansion, Nalco's aluminium production capacity will increase to 4,60,000 tonnes from 3,45,000 tonnes at present.

The completion of the second phase of expansion is expected to make Nalco's refinery capacity the sixth largest in the world, the sources said, adding Nalco is already Asia's largest integrated aluminium complex. The project is expected to be completed within 50 months after being approved by the CCEA.