- Business
- National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), a Navratna public sector enterprise under India's Ministry of Mines, engages in integrated operations spanning bauxite mining, alumina refining, aluminium smelting, power generation, and related activities; its core products include aluminium metal such as ingots, alloy ingots, T-ingots, sows, billets, wire rods, and cast strips; alumina and hydrate comprising calcined alumina and alumina hydrate; rolled products like aluminium rolled products and chequered sheets; and power from thermal, co-generation, wind, and solar sources. Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, the company operates primary facilities including the Panchpatmali bauxite mines and Damanjodi alumina refinery in Koraput district, along with the Angul smelter, captive power plant, and coal mines; it maintains regional sales offices in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Chennai, stockyards across India, and port facilities at Visakhapatnam and Paradip, serving domestic and export markets that account for significant revenue. NALCO, recognized as the world's lowest-cost producer of metallurgical-grade alumina and bauxite, pursues expansions including a Rs 30,000 crore investment over four to five years for doubling smelting capacity to one million tonnes per annum by FY30, adding a one million tonne per annum alumina refinery stream by FY27, new wire rod mill and rolled product capacity enhancements, entry into aluminium foil production, and brownfield smelter developments following unsuccessful Rio Tinto talks; it advances critical minerals via Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL) joint ventures for lithium exploration in Argentina and potential Australian refining partnerships.