Nalco may call off project in RI
Tuesday, December 11 2012 - 04:21 AM WIB
It said that the proposed project in Indonesia is stuck and awaiting various approvals.
?We have already got permission for land and water for a similar project in Odisha. We have already applied for coal linkages and if we manage to secure coal linkages to this project, we may not continue with the Indonesia project,? a senior company official said.
Nalco is planning to set up a 0.5 million tonnes per annum capacity smelter in Odisha and 1,250 mega watt coal fired captive power plant to feed the smelter.
When contacted by FC, BL Bagra, chairman at Nalco, said as of now, the company has kept their Indonesia project on hold due to delays in getting various approvals. ?The project has got delayed, mainly because the coal company has not been able to achieve financial closure for their project. Further, the coal mining company is undergoing a restructuring in its ownership. In view of these uncertainties, we have decided to focus in the domestic market.?
Bagra added that the investment in the Odisha project will be similar to the Indonesia project, around Rs 16,000 crore. Nalco had signed an MoU with UAE-based RAK Minerals for sourcing coal for the 0.5 million tons aluminium smelter and 1,250 mega watt captive thermal power plant in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Nalco planned to buy eight to 10 million tons per annum of thermal grade coal of which four to five million tons per annum was earmarked for its east Kalimantan project and rest for its energy requirements in India but the island project got stuck due to non-availability of coal. (*)