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Balco planning to more than double capacity

The country's third largest aluminium maker Balco is contemplating boosting production capacity of its smelter by two and a half times to 250,000 tonnes per year, a senior company official said on Tuesday.

"We started an internal study last month," the official said. "The study report is expected soon."

He said at 100,000 tonnes a year the smelter was not economically viable and there was a need to raise the capacity.

The recently privatised Bharat Aluminium Company is also looking at doubling the capacity of its 270 MW captive power plant to meet the energy needs of the expanded plant.

The power plant has four units of 67.5 MW each at present.

The official did not give any time frame, saying these plans were at an early stage and the firm's immediate priority was to normalise production, affected due to a strike.

Balco resumed operations at its Korba smelter in Chhattisgarh on May 9 after the company's nearly 7,000 workers ended their 67-day strike against the government sale of a majority stake to a private firm.

Sterlite Industries bought the government's 51 per cent equity in Balco, India's first big-ticket privatisation in a decade of economic reforms.

The official said the plant was currently running at about 50 per cent of its rated capacity.

The liquid metal had solidified in electrolytic pots because of the shutdown of the smelter during the strike.

"We are currently operating 346 of a total 408 pots but these are not running at their full capacities," he said.

The company suffered a production loss of around 20,000 tonnes over the strike period.

Full capacity production could be achieved by the end of July, he said, adding the firm would be able to concentrate on the expansion plans once normalcy was restored.

The smelter and its alumina plant with an annual capacity of 200,000 tonnes was set up in 1965 using technology from the former Soviet Union.

It contributes about 15 per cent of India's total aluminium production.

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