By P. Vijian, NNN-Bernama,
New Delhi : India’s state-owned National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco) is to make a major investment to set up an aluminium smelter and a coal-fired power plant in Indonesia, according to media reports here.
The Indonesian government is said to have approved the Indian company’s multi-million dollar investment project in coal-rich East Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo, the media reports said Monday.
“We have projected an investment of around 1,500 crores (15 billion Rupees or about 337.3 million USD) a year in Indonesia, starting 2012-2013. The investment will be made in tranches and the amount will go up in step with the progress of the project,” A.K. Srivastava, Nalco’s chairman and managing director, was quoted by the Economic Times as saying in the eastern Indian city of in Kolkata.
Nalco is planning to set up a 500,000 metric ton smelter and a 1,250-megawatt (MW) coal-fired power plant in East Kalimantan in the next 48 months. The investment in the green field projects is estimated to cost nearly 3.0 billion USD.
The public sector company, under India’s Ministry of Mines, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indonesian government in January 2008 to initiate the project.
Nalco will collaborate with RAK Minerals & Metals of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to develop port facilities and a rail corridor in Kalimantan to transport the coal, said Srivastava.
The Orissa state-based company produces nearly 400,000 tonnes of metal a year, making it the third largest aluminium maker in India.