Undeterred by a decline in profit during 2009-10 due to low prices, aluminium major NALCO is all set to embark upon a Rs 6,000 crore capacity expansion project and also aims to establish new mega-power plants.
Third phase expansion would further enhance the Navaratna PSU's alumina capacity to 29 lakh tonnes, aluminium capacity to 5.7 lakh tonnes and power generation to 1,700 MW, NALCO Chairman A K Srivastava told reporters here.
The company has so far completed two major expansion programmes at an investment of Rs 7,800 crore, raising its bauxite mining capacity to 63 lakh tonnes, alumina capacity to 21 lakh tonnes, aluminium capacity to 4.6 lakh tonnes and power generation potential to 1,200 MW, he said.
Actively pushing several ambitious projects in India and abroad, NALCO is gearing up to set up a 14-lakh tonne alumina refinery in Andhra Pradesh, for which the Centre has accorded prior approval for awarding a mining lease to the aluminium giant, Srivastava said.
Stating that the company plans to set up a 5-lakh tonne smelter plant and a 1,250-MW power unit in India, he said the company has sought coal blocks in Orissa and is ready to establish a power plant with a capacity of up to 4,000 MW if granted proper linkages.
On the financial front, the company achieved a turnover of Rs 5,548 crore in 2009-10 against Rs 5,631 crore in the previous year, the NALCO chairman said.
Net profit, however, dropped to Rs 814 crore from Rs 1,272 crore in the previous year, mainly due to a fall in sales realisation on account of lower prices of aluminium and higher fuel costs, he said.
Amid signs of a recovery in prices of aluminium, NALCO has targeted a Rs 1,100 crore
Profit in 2010-11, Srivastava said, adding that the company's net profit surpassed Rs 284 crore in the first quarter.
Besides proposing to set up two independent thermal power projects (IPP) in Orissa, NALCO is ready to establish a nuclear power plant in Gujarat as part of its plan to enter the energy sector in a big way.
The company has already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) for setting up a nuclear power plant as a joint venture, Srivastava said. The central government has accorded approval for a 1400-MW project comprising two 700-MW units.
In addition, the Navaratna PSU plans to set up a super critical thermal power plant of 1,980-MW capacity (3X660-MW) in Dhenkanal district, along with another IPP.
The company is also keen to enter into a strategic partnership with Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) and Orissa Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) for developing coal blocks to set up power plants.
Regarding overseas proposals, Srivastava said NALCO will set up an aluminium smelter in Indonesia, which has been accorded foreign investment approval by the Indonesian government. NALCO has already opened a project office at Jakarta.
Srivastava also said that NALCO, in association with BEML, has developed a prototype aluminium rail wagon.
Furthermore, plans are afoot to set up a joint venture cement plant for effective utilisation of fly ash generated from the company's captive power plant (CPP) at Angul, he said.
In order to harness renewable energy, Nalco also intends to set up 50-MW wind farm, Srivastava said.
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