After two years of slow down, BALCO operations now in full swing

RAIPUR: After nearly two years of slowdown, Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO) has resumed its operations in full swing aiming to produce nearly six lakh tonnes of Aluminium per annum in Chhattisgarh.
"All units --The smelter, Power Project, Sheet Rolling shop and all other units are now fully operational", Balco CEO Ramesh Nair told TOI.
Incorporated by a Public Sector undertaking in 1965, Balco went to the management control of Vedanta Group after the centre dis-invested 51 per cent equity in 2001.Government of India still holds 49 per cent stake in the company.
With all units being operational, Balco is now in a position to produce nearly six lakh tonnes of Aluminium per annum and its power production capacity has also reached 2010 MW. The Sheet Rolling Shop which was stopped nearly a year back due to a challenging market scenario caused due to drastic call in metal prices has now been restarted.
A Balco spokesman said the company had taken several measures to cut expenditure and reduce cost of production because of the slump in metal prices and competition from cheap imports from China. The closure of Steel rolling mill (SRS) last year had resulted in job cuts and now with the operations resuming more than 50 per cent of the workers have been taken back, he added.
Vedanta Group Chairman Anil Agrawal, during his visit to the Balco Plant at Korba in May this year, had indicated that the company plans to invest about Rs 10,000 crore to enhance the capacity to one million tonnes per annum.
After the disinvestment of Balco in 2001, Vedanta Group has invested nearly Rs. 4500 crores to lay the foundation of the 2.50 lakh tonne Smelter and 540 MW Power Project. This increased the production capacity of Balco from 1 lakh tonnes to 3.5 lakh tonnes per annum. Later it further invested Rs. 9000 crores for putting up a new Smelter of 3.25 lakh tonnes per annum capacity and a Power Project of 1200 MW capacity per annum, Balco spokesman said.
With its operations now in full swing, he said, Balco will now be contributing nearly 15% of the Country’s total Aluminium production.