Nalco targets 7.1% increase in bauxite production

KOLKATA: National Aluminium Company ( Nalco) is targeting a production of 68.25 lakh tonnes of bauxite and 21.50 lakh tonnes of alumina in 2016-17, an increase of 7.1 per cent and 9.2 per cent respectively, compared to the last fiscal.

This marks a key change in strategy of the country's largest state owned aluminum company which surpassed its previous production records by producing 63.40 lakh tonnes of bauxite and 19.53 lakh tonnes of alumina at its mines and refinery during the 2015-16 fiscal.

Describing 2015-16 as a seminal year, Tapan Kumar Chand, chairman, Nalco said there would be a major turnaround in the business plan of the company to meet the turbulent business environment.

"While Nalco has so far been regulating its production to tide over the crisis, the company is now braving it out by augmenting production to beat margin erosion," he added.

Chand was addressing employees at the company's production unit at Damanjodi where he felicitated 30 achievers ranging from Operators to Assistant General managers for their contribution to the company's performance in 2015-16.

"With concerted efforts, in 2016-17, we shall achieve the target of producing 68.25 lakh tonnes of bauxite, an increase of 7.1 per cent and 21.50 lakh tonnes of alumina, an increase of 9.2 per cent as compared to last fiscal. Now, the journey of Nalco has begun, which would make the company a truly global player in mining, metal and energy sectors," Chand said.

During the two-day visit, he attended a series of meetings and programmes, interacting with representatives of workers’ unions, officers’ associations, school authorities, socio-cultural bodies, industrial security forces, as well as people from periphery villages and top officials of district administration.