The Bharat Aluminium Company limited (BAlCO), a subsidiary of Vedanta’s SSlT has announced that it has received approval from the Chhattisgarh Government to start a 1,200 megawatts (MW) captive power plant (4 units of 300 MW each) in the State.
The move will boost BAlCO’s annual aluminium production capacity to 5.7 lakh metric tonnes from the current 3.5 lakh and also make Chhattisgarh, India’s third largest aluminium producer, a company Press release issued here on Friday stated.
“We are very grateful to the Government of Chhattisgarh for the approval granted, at a time when we are celebrating our Golden Jubilee Year. It enables us to further ramp up our state-of-the-art aluminium smelter, thereby taking the aluminium capacity to 570,000 MT per annum,” said CEO and whole-time director, BAlCO, Ramesh Nair .
The power plant and smelter will significantly contribute to the State exchequer and generate sizeable employment besides triggering growth of downstream industry in Chhattisgarh. BAlCO is a national asset and this new power plant will significantly aid in nation building,” he said.
The captive power plant, set up with an investment of about Rs5,000 crore, is additional to two existing plants having the capacity of 270 MW and 540 MW each. Post operation, the plant, along with BAlCO’s aluminium smelter, is expected to contribute about Rs250 crore to the State exchequer in form of various taxes, Nair said.
BAlCO is the only producer of aluminium in Chhattisgarh and now with the said capacity augmentation, Chhattisgarh is all set to contribute more than 25 per cent of India’s total aluminium output. BAlCO commenced operations with an annual production of 1 lakh MT Aluminium in 1965, he said.
The power project is also expected to give down stream industries an impetus to grow by nearly 4 times, which will increase the employment generation in the State. The company’s focus on community development will be further strengthened, Nair said.