Nalco updates on its US$2.8bn venture in Iran or Oman

National Aluminium Company Ltd. (Nalco) was earlier reported to have planned to invest US$2.80 billion to build an integrated aluminium roject in either Iran or Oman.

In a recent update, the company sources divulged that the proposed 5 lakh tonne-per-year smelter, which will also include a captive power plant, will run on surplus alumina from Nalco's existing and proposed Indian refineries.

The planned aluminium smelter will cater to the markets for value-added products, primarily from the automobile industries in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe and the US. The public sector company has free cash reserves of INR 17,000 crore; and this project has been conceived based on these strong financial credentials.

As per the update, Nalco would consider various parameters for the captive power plant, mainly cheap availability of fuel (coal/gas).

The company has 2.27 million tonnes (mt) alumina capacity at present and plans to augment its capacity by at least another 1 mt by 2018-19. Meanwhile, Nalco's proposed 1 mt (INR 6,260 crore) greenfield alumina refinery in Gujarat, in association with Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC) could be scaled down by half due to inadequate availability of bauxite.

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