Union coal and mines minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday said Nalco (National Aluminium Company Limited), a Navaratna company based in Odisha, would invest Rs 30,000 crore for its expansion plan.

“Nalco being a significant contributor in the alumina and aluminium sectors, it is essential that the company goes for its planned expansion,” Joshi said while addressing the 41st foundation day celebrations of the company here.

He said: “The Rs 30,000-crore expansion plan of Nalco, spread over the next seven–eight years, will include the expansion of its refinery by 1 million tonnes, adding the 3.5 million tonnes capacity Pottangi bauxite mines and operationalisation of the Utkal D and E coal blocks. Enhancement of its aluminium smelting capacity by 0.5 million tonnes and captive power plant by another approximately 1,200MW through brownfield expansions at Angul district of Odisha has been also envisaged in this growth plan.”

Joshi also stressed on the fact that there exists a huge scope for increasing the per capita consumption of aluminium in the country and it is the right time for the Indian aluminium industries to ramp up their production and leverage this opportunity.

“The annual consumption is stated to grow manifold with demand picking up under the Government of India’s Atmanirbhar (self-reliant) Bharat initiative in sectors like power, building and construction, packaging, automobile manufacturing and transportation,” he said.

Nalco chairman and managing director Sridhar Patra highlighted the company’s significant performance in the last fiscal, including the export earnings that accounted for about 59 per cent of the sales turnover in the first half of this financial year.