NTPC, NALCO form joint venture for aluminium plant, INR 36,000 crore

<p>State-run generation utility NTPC and aluminium giant National Aluminium Co. Ltd ( NALCO) entered into an agreement to jointly&nbsp; set up a 2.4 giga watt(GW)&nbsp; power plant and one million tonne aluminium production facility in Odisha&rsquo;s Dhenkanal district, Gajmara. The total investment estimated at INR 36,000 crore, the companies said in a statement. The proposed power plant comprises of three units of 800 MW each.<br /><br />Nalco chairman and MD Tapan Kumar Chand said construction of the power plants and the aluminium production unit to complete in four years.<br /><br /><img style="vertical-align: middle; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/power-plant.jpg" alt="News" width="517" height="226" /><br />Power Minister Piyush Goyal informed that the generated power will be taken by the NALCO as a joint venture (JV) partner for the Brownfield expansion of its 5 lakh tonne Aluminium smelter at Angul and the Greenfield project of a 6 lakh tonne smelter at Kamakhya Nagar in Odisha. He explained in a situation of India being Coal surplus and power prices coming down, NTPC would be able to provide uninterrupted power supply to NALCO&rsquo;s plants through this JV project<br /><br />Goyal further stated:&nbsp; &ldquo;We have brought back Aluminium smelter plant to the people of Odisha, which was going to be established outside the country due to lack of cheap power in the country a couple of years back. This would not only give a boost employment generation in the region but also give a fillip to economy of the country as a whole.&rdquo;<br /><br />{googleAdsense}<br /><br />The joint venture strives to keep the cost of power generation to a minimum so as to benefit aluminium production, NTPC chairman and managing director Gurdeep Singh said.<br /><br />According to Oil minister Dharmendra&nbsp; Pradhan, the power plant at Dhenkanal and the increased Aluminium production at Angul and Kamakhya Nagar would fuel industrial growth in a sustainable manner and transform the face of the region in near future.</p>