Bhubaneswar: 29.04.2008: National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), the flagship PSU of the Ministry of Mines, and India’s largest manufacturer and exporter of alumina and aluminium, has been granted the Navratna status, according to an office memorandum released by the Department of Public Enterprises, Govt. of India.

Navratna status is conferred on select Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE), on becoming significant players in the economic development of the country. On achieving the status, certain powers are delegated to those CPSEs that had comparative advantages and capacity to become global giants.

NALCO is presently undergoing its 2nd phase expansion with an investment of more than Rs.5000 crore, which is scheduled to be completed by this year end. At the same time, plans are afoot to set up Smelter and Power Plants in Indonesia and South Africa by the company.

Bhubaneswar: 29.04.2008: National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), the flagship PSU of the Ministry of Mines, and India’s largest manufacturer and exporter of alumina and aluminium, has reported its results for the 4th quarter ended March 2008.

According to the unaudited financial results taken on record in the Board of Directors meeting held in New Delhi today, the company has achieved a net profit of Rs.409.06 crore, with a sales turnover of Rs.1533.87 crore. However, during the 4th quarter of the previous fiscal, the net profit was Rs.591.48 crore with a turnover of Rs.1722.97 crore.

The net profit and sales turnover for the financial year 2007-08 work out to Rs.1624.89 crore and Rs.5474.08 crore respectively, as against the corresponding figures of Rs.2381.38 crore and Rs.6514.51 crore achieved during the previous year.

Despite NALCO achieving more than 100% capacity utilization of its Alumina Refinery and Smelter Plant this year, the company has lost more than Rs.600 crore due to appreciation of rupee vis-à-vis US$. NALCO’s alumina production has gone up to 15,75,500 MT from 14,75,200 MT, while the aluminium production has gone up to 3,59,213 MT from 3,58,734 MT during 2007-08.

Bhubaneswar: 25/04/2008: The Board of National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), a leading PSU under Ministry of Mines, has been further strengthened with the induction of five Independent Directors for a period of three years. They are: Shri S.B. Mishra, Former Chief Secretary of Orissa; Shri N.R. Mohanty, Former Chairman, HAL; Dr. Jyoti Mukhopadhyay, Director, Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Research Development and Design Centre (JNARDDC); Shri R.K. Sharma, Secretary General, Federation of Indian Mineral Industries and Maj. General Samay Ram (Retd.). With this induction, the requirement of Listing Agreement with Stock Exchange to have eight Independent Directors in the Board has been complied with in full and the development is expected to pave the way for formally conferring Navratna status on NALCO.

Bhubaneswar: 07/04/2008: National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), a leading PSU under Ministry of Mines, is one of the 48 Indian companies which have figured in Forbes’ ‘Global 2000 List’. Led by India’s most valued firm Reliance Industries (ranked 193), followed by PSU major ONGC (198), these companies have been included in the prestigious list on the basis of their respective sales, profits, assets and market capitalization. From the eastern part of India, only Tata Steel (738) and NALCO (1478) have found place in the list. Among the Indian companies, NALCO has been ranked 32, while among the public sector companies it has achieved the 11th position.

The top ten PSUs (excluding banks) are: ONGC, IOC, NTPC, SAIL, BPCL, BHEL, HPCL, NMDC, GAIL and PGCIL. Among the public sector banks, SBI (219) tops the Indian list.

Bhubaneswar, 10.03.2008: National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) – India’s leading manufacturer and exporter of alumina and aluminium, under Ministry of Mines – paid an interim dividend of 45% on the paid-up capital of Rs.644.31 crore, amounting to Rs.289.94 crore for the financial year 2007-08.

The dividend cheque for Rs.252.67 crore on the 87.15% shares held by the Govt. of India was handed over to Shri Sis Ram Ola, Union Minister of Mines, by Shri C.R. Pradhan, CMD, Nalco, in New Delhi today, in the presence of Shri J.P. Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Mines, Shri B.L. Bagra, Director (Finance), Nalco, Shri Joy Varghese, Director (P&A), Nalco, and other senior officials of the Ministry and the Company. The balance amount of Rs.37.27 crore has been disbursed to other shareholders of the Company like banks, financial institutions and individual shareholders.

Bhubaneswar, 29.02.2008: National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), India’s leading producer and exporter of alumina and aluminium, has bagged the EEPC (Engineering Export Promotion Council, Eastern Region)’s Gold Trophy, as Top Exporter in the Large Enterprise Category, for outstanding contribution to engineering exports during the year 2005-06.

On behalf of the company, the award was received by Mr P.K. Parida, Executive Director (Marketing), from Mr Guenter Wehrman, Council General, Consulate General of Federal Republic of Germany, in the presence of Mr Manabendra Mukherjee, Minister in-charge of Micro & Small Scale Enterprises, Textiles and Tourism, Govt. of West Bengal, at a function held in Kolkata yesterday.

Nalco has played a pioneering role in the export of alumina and aluminium from India. Since inception, the company has been constantly increasing its exports and forex earnings. During the Financial Year 2005-06, the company exported 8.62 lakh tonnes of alumina and 95,747 tonnes of aluminium, earning a foreign exchange of Rs.2307 crore. It may be mentioned that during the Financial Year 2006-07 also, Nalco achieved a record export earning of Rs.2586 crore.

Nalco products are exported to more than 30 countries. It is the first Indian company to be registered with London Metal Exchange and has ISO-9000-2001 and ISO-14001 Certifications for all its units like Mines, Alumina Refinery, Aluminium Smelter and Power Plant.

The company is currently implementing its 2nd phase expansion programme, at an investment of Rs.4092 crore, which will be completed by this year end.

Bhubaneswar, 06 February 2008: National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) – India’s leading manufacturer and exporter of alumina and aluminium – has announced an enhanced interim dividend of 45% on a paid-up capital of Rs.644.31 crore, amounting to Rs.289.94 crore for the 2007-08 fiscal. About a week back, the company had announced an interim dividend of 40%, which has now been enhanced by 5%. The Govt. of India holds 87.15% shares of this flagship company under the Ministry of Mines, while the balance shares are held by various individuals, banks, financial institutions etc.

Bhubaneswar , 29 January 2008: National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), the flagship PSU of the Ministry of Mines, and India’s largest manufacturer and exporter of alumina and aluminium, has reported its results for the 3rd quarter ended December 2007.

According to the unaudited financial results for the 3rd quarter of the financial year 2007-08, taken on record in the Board of Directors meeting held in Bhubaneswar on January 29, the company has achieved a net profit of Rs.329.44 crore, with a sales turnover of Rs.1220.97 crore. However, during the 3rd quarter of previous fiscal, the figures were up at Rs.572.6 crore and Rs.1588.07 crore respectively.

The net profit and sales turnover for the 9 months ended December 2007 work out to Rs.1215.83 crore and Rs.3940.21 crore respectively, as against the corresponding figures of Rs.1789.9 crore and Rs.4791.54 crore achieved during the first 9 months of the previous fiscal. However, the alumina sales during the 9 months of this fiscal have gone up to 6.27 lakh tonnes as against 4.88 lakh tonnes achieved during the comparable period of 2006-07. On the other hand, the metal sales have gone down to 2.61 lakh tonnes from 2.66 lakh tonnes during the comparable 9 months of the two fiscals.

The lower sale and profit are primarily because of lower global alumina & aluminium prices and importantly, a rising rupee. Alumina export price averaged 266 dollars per tonne this quarter as against 393 dollars last year during the comparable period. Similarly, at the London Metal Exchange, the average aluminium price went down to 2444 dollars per tonne from 2724 dollars during the comparable quarters of the two fiscals. Also, the dollar-rupee rate slumped to Rs.39.55 from Rs.44.83 during the comparable quarters. Supply of coal, a major raw material, was also adversely affected during the 3rd quarter, which resulted in an additional expenditure of Rs.42.86 crore during the quarter, owing to use of more expensive coal imported from abroad and from BCCL.

Bhubaneswar , 29 January 2008: Shri Subramanyam Vijay Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Mines, Govt. of India has been inducted as Part-time Official Director of National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO). An IAS Officer of HP cadre of 1976 batch, Shri Vijay Kumar brings along rich experiences in Parliamentary Affairs, Rural Development and Administrative Reforms.

Bhubaneswar , 28 January 2008: Nalco donated a Mobile Medicare Unit, costing Rs.8.25 lakh, to HelpAge India, to reach out to the doorsteps of needy senior citizens. On behalf of the company, Shri C.R. Pradhan, CMD, handed over the keys to Ms Rashmi Mohanty, Deputy Director, HelpAge India, Orissa & Chhattisgarh, in the presence of Shri Joy Varghese, Director (P&A), Shri B.L. Bagra, Director (Finance) and other senior officers of Nalco, on the Republic Day at Nalco Bhavan.

Bhubaneswar , 11 January 2008: National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), a leading PSU under Ministry of Mines, Govt. of India, has signed an MoU with the Govt of Indonesia in Jakarta today, to set up a 5-lakh tonne Smelter and a 1250 mw Captive Power Plant in that country. The MoU was signed between Shri B.L. Bagra, Director (Finance), representing NALCO and Prof. H. Mahyuddin, Vice Governor, South Sumatra Province, representing the Indonesian Govt., in the presence of Shri J.P. Singh, Secretary (Mines), and Shri V.K. Thakral, Joint Secretary (Mines), Govt. of India.

NALCO plans to invest around 3.4 billion US dollars in this greenfield project, which works out to around 14,000 crore INR. The proposed plants will be set up in two phases. In the 1st phase, the company shall have a 2.5-lakh tonne capacity Smelter and a 750 mw Power Plant.

Besides Indonesia, NALCO is also exploring the possibilities of setting up plants in Iran, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.

Closer home, NALCO is trying to set up an Aluminium Park for upstream and downstream industries, in Angul, as a joint venture with Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO). For this 500 acres of land is being acquired. NALCO & IDCO shall take care of basics like infrastructure, communication and power supply. The proposed upstream industries shall go for products like Caustic Soda, Aluminium Fluoride, CT Pitch and CP Coke; while downstream industries shall explore the possibilities of Castings, Extrusions, Aluminium Conductor, Aluminium Plates & Rounds, besides other products.