The National Aluminium Company limited (Nalco) and the Mining Industries Development & Renovation Organisation (IMIDRO) have signed an MoU to jointly explore the possibility of setting up an aluminium smelter in Iran with supply of alumina from the Nalco’s refinery in India.
The MoU also envisages tolling arrangement with existing smelters in Iran for producing aluminium from alumina supplied by the Nalco and proposes to look into other business collaborations as well.
“Nalco looks forward to using the low-cost gas-based energy available in Iran for conversion of its surplus alumina, presently exported to international markets to bring in value addition and scale up value chain,” said Nalco CMD Dr Tapan Kumar Chand.
Under this MoU, a joint taskforce comprising Nalco and IMIDRO experts would be constituted to work out the details. The MoU was signed between the Nalco CMD and the Vice-Chairman, Planning Board, Iran, on Monday in Tehran in the presence of the Prime Minister of India and President of Iran.