NTPC, NALCO ink pact for 2,400-MW power plant

State-run power giant NTPC and NALCO today inked a pact to set up a 2,400 MW coal fired power plant in Odisha at an investment of Rs 14,000 crore to supply low cost electricity to the latter for aluminium production.
The MoU will facilitate NTPC Ltd and National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) to set up a joint venture (JV) company to establish the power project at Gajmara, Dhenkanal, Odisha.
The pact was inked in the presence of Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Power Minister Piyush Goyal here.
Goyal said the generated power will be utilised by NALCO for the brownfield expansion of its 5 lakh tonne aluminium smelter at Angul (at an investment of Rs 10,000 crore) and the greenfield project of 6 lakh tonne smelter at Kamakhya Nagar, Odisha (costing Rs 12,000 crore).

The estimated investment in all these projects will be approximately Rs 36,000 crore.
Goyal said this JV is a unique win-win project for both the companies. In the coming days, the demand for aluminium shall increase many fold in the rapidly growing Indian economy and such projects shall take forward the 'Make in India' initiative, creating jobs for the people of Odisha, he added.

He was of the view that in a situation of India being coal surplus and power prices coming down, NTPC would be able to provide uninterrupted low cost power supply to NALCO's plants through this project.

On the other hand, NALCO would be able to ramp up aluminium production in the country, which previously was not possible due to high power prices, he added.
"We have brought back aluminium smelter plant to the people of Odisha, which was going to be established outside the country due to lack of cheap power in the country a couple of years back. This would not only give a boost to employment generation in the region but also give a fillip to economy of the country as a whole," Goyal said.
Speaking about environment conservation, Goyal said his ministry has taken cognisance of the pollution being caused by thermal power plants and NTPC has accorded in-principle approval to modernise all power plants older than 25 years in the next 5 years by replacing them with energy efficient supercritical power plants.

Lauding the Power Ministry for executing the long pending project, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that after the establishment of this power plant, this less developed region of Odisha would experience the fruits of its own mineral wealth being used for all-round development, which was not the case so far.
The 2,400 MW power plant at Dhenkanal and the increased aluminium production at Angul and Kamakhya Nagar would fuel industrial growth in a sustainable manner that would transform the face of the region in near future, he added.