In a bid to diversify its activity into power generation and aluminium business, the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) has a proposal to set up a power plant and an aluminium project in the State.
According to reports, the power plant would be established at an investment of Rs 12,000 crore. The 1,600-MW-per-annum-capacity coal-fired power plant would come up in Sundargarh district.
For its proposed aluminium plant, the MCL is on the lookout for a bauxite mine in the State. The MCL’s parent company Coal India’s Board has already approved a pre-feasibility report for the aluminium project.
Meanwhile, the MCL has planned to increase its production by 13 per cent to a total of 190 million tonnes (MT) in the current fiscal year. It had a production of over 168 MT in 2021-22. While the production target for 2022-23 was 176 MT, the company is 21% ahead of it by now.