Sterlite Industries India has announced successful commissioning of its new 2,45,000 tpa aluminium smelter consisting of 288 pots.According to an official release issued by the company to the BSE today, the performance of all pots has been improving steadily and full capacity of 2,45,000 tpa is expected to be reached by the end of this financial year. All four units of the 540 MW power plant continue to operate well. This expansion takes the total aluminium capacity of Balco at 3,45,000 tpa with full energy-integration.Furthermore, the de-bottlenecking of the Tuticorin copper smelter to expand its capacity to 4,00,000 tpa, is now complete and the smelter is now fully operational. This increase in capacity 1,00,000 tpa has been achieved ahead of schedule, the release said.The smelting and refining costs at Tuticorin are one of the lowest worldwide and were at a level of US cents 5.2 per pound for the six months ended on September 30, 2006. The above expansion will further help in reducing the costs of production, the release added.
