NALCO keen to set up Power

Bhubaneswar, Sept 29: Public Sector National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) is exploring the possibility of setting up of a coal based power plant and a Smelter plant in Indonesia.

''We have located a coal block in Indonesia for the power plant and identified the location for the smelter plant,'' NALCO Chairman cum Managing Director C R Pradhan told newsmen here yesterday after addressing the 25th Annual General Meeting.

Asked why he preferred Indonesia for a smelter plant and thermal power plant instead of going for an expansion of its own plant in Orissa, Mr Pradhan said there would be no land acquisition problem in Indonesia and moreover the coal there had a high calorific contents.

The NALCO CMD said the Indonesia government had also shown keen interest to have a joint venture project.

On the company's plan to set up plant in Andhra Pradesh, Mr Pradhan said the Andhra Pradesh government has refused to provide mining lease adding that it would be not feasible to purchase ore from the state government and set up the plant there.The centre was also not willing to set up the plant there without mining lease,he remarked.

Mr Pradhan said besides, Indonesia,the company had also short listed three Gulf countries-Oman, Abu Dabei and Quarter to set up joint venture projects to utilise its surplus alumina to be produced aftre the completion of second phase expansion project by 2008.

He said the feasibility report for setting up of joint venture projects in these three countries had already been prepared and were under study of the company.

Back home, Mr.Pradhan said the NALCO had requested the Orissa government to recommend in its favour the Gandhamardhan bauxite deposits and approached the centre to give the environmental clearance for mining in Gandhamardhan.

He said we have already got the exploration detail of the bauxite deposit in Gandhamardhan and made a detailed survey of the area. The deposits in Gandhamardhan would be around 220 million tonnes, Mr Pradhan said.

On being asked about the local resistance to the bauxite mining in Gandhamardhan that forced the BALCO to abandon the idea, the NALCO CMD said he was aware of the problem adding that these problems could be sorted out amicably.

He said the local people would be assured that there would be no problem to the Harishankar temple at the Gandhamardhan hill and the environmental impact would be well taken care of. Mr Pradhan further said the local people had opposed the BALCO as it was not a state based company while NALCO being the state based,there would not be much opposition.

UNI