Bhubaneswar: National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco), the Navratna CPSE, and one of leading producer of alumina and aluminium in the country has been granted the mining lease of Utkal-D coal block by the government of Odisha, through a notification issued on April16, by department of Steel & Mines.
As per the notification, the mining lease of Utkal D coal block is over an area of 301.28 hects in villages Kosala, Nandichood, Similisahi & Raijharan under Chendipada Tahasil of Angul district granted in favour of Nalco.
It may be noted that upon execution of mining lease deed, Nalco is considering to open Utkal-D coal block in the financial year 2020-21. The initial capacity of Utkal-D coal block is 2 million tonnes per year with a total mineable reserve of 101.68 million tonnes.
Expressing confidence that the operationalization of Utkal-D coal block will contribute significantly to the bottom line of NALCO, the company CMD Sridhar Patra has thanked the State and Central governments for sanction of mining lease of Utkal-D.
“For a power intensive industry like aluminium, it is very essential to have a secure supply of coal. I hope with the mining lease in place, it will usher in a new era of development for the company”, he said.
Worth mentioning that Utkal-D coal block was allocated to NALCO in May 2016. NALCO is also in the process of obtaining mining lease grant of Utkal- E coal block which has been allocated to NALCO along with Utkal-D coal block in May 2016. Upon Operation of both Utkal-D & E, NALCO will be able to produce 4 million tonnes coal per year. The lease for Utkal-D has been granted for a period of 30 years.
