Centre urged for commencement of NALCO’s brownfield expansion project in Odisha

Bhubaneswar:  Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan today shot off a letter to Coal and Mines Minister Prahlad Joshi proposing him for commencement of NALCO’s brownfield expansion project for its aluminium smelter plant in Angul district.

In the letter, Pradhan said NALCO is undertaking the expansion project for its  aluminium smelter plant to increase its capacity from 0.46 MTPA to 1 MTPA, which includes construction of a 1400 MW feeder Captive Power Plant (CPP). The project, which  is currently at land acquisition stage, is estimated to cost around Rs 22,000 crore.

“NALCO’s Bauxite production capacity will increase from 7.3 MTPA to 10.5 MTPA after operationalization of Pottangi mines. Out of this, up to 3.1 MPTA consists of alumina which has potential to be produced into 1.5 MTPA of aluminium. Worth mentioning aluminium smelting is a highly power intensive process and the feasibility of the brownfield expansion project is heavily dependent on a steady supply of affordable coal to the 1400 MW feeder CPP for uninterrupted bulk generation of power,” he pointed out.

The Minister  also proposed commissioning of the feeder CPP for the brownfield expansion project in the district that will benefit from logistical efficiencies due to its strategic location in proximity to the smelter unit and coal blocks.