State-run aluminium producer National Aluminium Company (Nalco) today cited "diplomatic" and financial roadblocks for not being able to make any progress in the Rs 10,000-crore greenfield project in Iran.
"Due to diplomatic reasons and not tying up of funds, we have not been able to pursue our joint venture in Iran," Nalco CMD A K Shrivastava told reporters on the sidelines of a conference here.
Nalco plans to construct a power plant and a 3,10,000-tonne greenfield aluminium smelter in Iran at an investment of Rs 10,000 crore.
Asked if it has been shelved due to political pressure, Shrivastava said, the project was still in pipeline, but things were not progressing, "because we are not able to firm up finance."
He, however added that the company is going ahead with its aluminium smelter project in Indonesia.
On a query if infrastructure posed a problem for transporting coal to India from Indonesia, Shrivastava said that in the previous location there had been problems, but in the new location in Kalimantan, rail and road connectivity has already been planned.
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Therefore, by the time the project starts, these issues would get resolved, he said.
In 2008, Nalco inked an agreement with the Indonesian government for setting up a 0.5-million tonne aluminium smelter and a 1,250 MW captive power unit at an investment of about Rs 17,000-crore.