Bhubaneswar: The union mines secretary, Anil Mukim, Thursday laid the foundation stone for the Alloy Wire Rod Mill project of the Central-sector National Aluminium Company (Nalco). The foundation stone laying ceremony, which was held through video conferencing from the Corporate office in Bhubaneswar, was graced by Nalco CMD TK Chand.

The Rs 131 crore Alloy Wire Rod Mill, located in Nalco’s smelter plant at Angul, would source liquid metal for manufacturing of semi-finished product to cater to the power sector . The capacity of the plant is 40,000 tonnes per annum of alloy grade material.

Speaking on the occasion the union secretary said , Nalco has been recognized as the lowest cost producer of alumina in the world. Nalco has become the pride of India in non-ferrous sector, said Mukim.

The Nalco CMD said the Central government’s initiatives like the power to every household, energy efficient automobile, smart cities, bullet trains, aluminium wagons would given a boost the consumption of aluminium in the country from the existing 3.2 million tonnes per annum to 8 million tonne in next two to three years.  Stating that India is one of the lowest consuming aluminium among countries, Chand said the per capita aluminum consumption in India is only 2.2 kg against world average of 7 kg and 20 kg in China.