Indian Aluminium Company (Indal), the Aditya Birla group company, may shut its 14,000-tonne aluminium smelter at Alupuram, Kerela, following the sharp increase in power tariffs. The rise in tariff has made the operations of the unit almost unviable, sources said.
S K Tamotia, president and chief executive officer at Indal, said: "We have taken up the matter with the Kerala government and expect the tariff to be reduced. I have already met the chief minister."
"We expect some developments in this regard in 20 days. If not, we will have to weigh our options on the issue," he added.
Other senior executives at Indal said: "We may close operations at our Alupuram unit. Even if the state government reduces the power tariff to some extent, the project would continue to be unviable. However, a final decision is yet to be taken."
Currently the unit has around 500 employees. "We may offer a voluntary retirement scheme to the employees at this unit after we take a final call on the issue," the executives said.
The company has also begun to consolidate smelter operations in Hirakud, Orissa. Around 27,000 tonne of capacity will be transferred from its closed Belgaum smelter to Hirakud, which will almost double capacity to 57,000 tonne.
Indal, in the interim, has decided to put on hold its plans to set a another 67.5 mw captive power plant at Hirakud. "We have contracted cheap rates from the Orissa government, which are almost 25 per cent lower," Tamotia said.
According to a presentation made by the company, the demand growth is expected to remain soft over the next six months.
... Q2 net up at Rs 30.7 cr
Indal has posted a net profit of Rs 30.7 crore for the second quarter ended September 30, 2001, as against Rs 28.5 crore registered during the corresponding quarter last year. Turnover during the period increased from Rs 330.8 crore to Rs 342.6 crore. Interest component declined to Rs 9.3 crore compared with Rs 10.3 crore during the year-ago period.
