Interview Guidance Module

National Aluminum Company Limited

About NALCO

• National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) is a Schedule ‘A’ Navratna CPSE

• It is one of the largest integrated Bauxite-Alumina-Aluminium- Power Complex in the

• At present, Government of India holds 51.28% of paid-up equity capital.

• The Company has been operating its captive Panchpatmali Bauxite Mines for the pit
head Alumina refinery at Damanjodi, in the District of Koraput in Odisha and Aluminium
Smelter & Captive Power Plant at Angul.

• As a part of green initiative, NALCO has installed 198 MW Wind Power Plants at various
locations in India and 850 kW roof top Solar Power Plants at its premises to join hands
for carbon neutrality.

• NALCO is one of the leading foreign exchanges earning CPSEs of the Country.

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• The Company continues to retain its position of lowest cost producer in Bauxite and
Alumina production in the World in 2022.

• Even with subdued pricing situation in FY 2022-23, with focus on domestic market the
Company achieved highest ever revenue from operation of Rs.14,255 Crore. However,
with increase in input cost, the PAT achieved was Rs. 1,544 crores in FY 2022-23.

• Profit After Tax (PAT) refers to the amount that remains after a company has paid off all
of its operating and non-operating expenses, other liabilities and taxes. This profit is
what is distributed by the entity to its shareholders as dividends or is kept as retained
earnings in reserves.

• NALCO achieved Full capacity Aluminium production of 4.6 lakh tonne, with all 960 POTs
in operation in its Aluminium Smelter for the 2nd consecutive year in FY 2022-23.

• The Company has a 68.25 lakh TPA Bauxite Mine & 21.00 lakh TPA (normative capacity)
Alumina Refinery located at Damanjodi in Koraput district of Odisha, and 4.60 lakh TPA
Aluminium Smelter & 1200MW Captive Power Plant located at Angul, Odisha.

• The Company has regional sales offices in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai and 7
operating stockyards at various locations in the Country to facilitate domestic
consumers. In addition, NALCO has its own bulk shipment facility for export of products.

• NALCO is the first Public Sector Company in the country to venture into international
market in a big way with London Metal Exchange (LME) registration since May, 1989.
The Company is listed at Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) since 1992 and National Stock
Exchange (NSE) since 1999. Besides, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 50001 & SA
8000 certifications.

• To support the Alumina Refinery and raw material security, the Company is developing
Pottangi bauxite Mines. Obtaining all clearances under process.

• As part of backward integration, the Company has established a caustic soda plant in JV
with Gujarat Alkalies & Chemicals Limited (GACL) in Gujarat.

• NALCO has taken the responsibility of Shri Jagannath Temple, Puri & it surrounding
under PM’s Iconic Shrine Development Programme to upgrade the infrastructure &
maintain cleanliness.

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Vision
To be a Premier and Integrated company in the Aluminium value chain with strategic presence
in Mining both domestic & global, Metals and Energy sectors.

Mission
To sustainably grow multi-fold in Mining, Alumina and Aluminium business along with select
diversification in Minerals, Metals and Energy sectors, while continuously improving on
efficiency and business practices thus enhancing value for all stakeholders.

Core Values: BEST

We provide our customers, suppliers and other stakeholders with utmost level of value, service
and satisfaction.

Excellence and quality

We ensure that our products, manufacturing & business processes adhere to the highest
quality levels and standards.

Sustainability

We relentlessly pursue sustainable practices and create a positive impact on the communities
we engage with.

Trust & Integrity

We conduct ourselves with dignity, integrity, equity, transparency and accountability to build
trust.

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Why do you want to join NALCO?

• I always wanted to be part of some reputed PSU and NALCO is highly prestigious
Navratna CPSE

• It has global reputation of being the lowest cost producer in Bauxite and for Alumina
production in the World

• It provides immense value, service and satisfaction to all stakeholders including the
employees

• One of the best employers in terms of job enrichment and satisfaction

• NALCO is producing positive impact on the communities due to its sustainable work
ethics and practices and to be part of such organisation is matter of pride for me

• NALCO is the organisation with adheres to highest standards of quality in services and
products and I will get opportunity to imbibe these in me as professional

• NALCO has diversified portfolio ranging from mining to metal to energy domains and I
will get opportunity to learn and grow professionally by being part of such organisation

• NALCO is profit generating PSU and contributing into the national development and
growth, it is also making its global presence, I want to be part of such organisation
where I get opportunity to contribute in national building

• NALCO offers best career growth opportunities and learning environment for the
employees

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Production & Financial Highlights

• The Smelter plant operated at full capacity in FY 2021-22 producing 4.6 Lakh MT
Aluminium Metal.

• 100% capacity utilisation in Aluminium Smelter and Alumina Refinery.

• The Company achieved highest ever Bauxite production of 75.11 lakh tonne in FY 2021-
22.

• Revenue achieved Rs. 14,181 crore and Highest ever PAT of Rs. 2,952 crores achieved.

• The Company achieved highest ever production & Sales performance as follows: (1)
Highest ever Bauxite excavation of 75.51 lakh tonne. (2) Highest Aluminium Metal
production of 4.6 Lakh MT for the 2nd consecutive year. (3) Highest ever cumulative
metal sale of 4.64 lakh tonne, highest ever domestic metal sale of 4.39 lakh tonne
achieved by NALCO.

• Company achieved highest ever revenue from operation of Rs.14,255 Crore. However,
with increase in input cost the PAT achieved was Rs. 1,544 crores.

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 Operations
Bauxite Mines

On Panchpatmali hills of Koraput district in Odisha, a fully mechanized opencast mine is in

Alumina Refinery

The Alumina Refinery is located at Damanjodi, Odisha, approximately 14 KM from the bauxite
mine at Panchpatmali. The mined-out bauxite is transported from captive mine to refinery by a
14.6 KM long single-light multi-curve 1800 tonnes per hour (TPH) capacity cable belt conveyor.
The alumina produced is transported to aluminium smelter at Angul (Odisha) and to Vizag
(Andhra Pradesh) port by rail.

Aluminium Smelter

The present capacity of smelter is 4.60 lakh TPA. Alumina is converted into primary aluminium
through a smelting process by using electrolytic reduction. From the pot-line, the molten
aluminium is routed to either the casting units, where the aluminium can be cast into ingots,
sow ingots, tee ingots, billets, wire rods, cast strips and alloy ingots, or to RPU where the
molten aluminium is rolled into various cold-rolled products or cast into aluminium strips.
Aluminium products are sold in the domestic market and also exported through Kolkata,
Paradeep & Vizag ports.

Captive Power Plant

Presently the Captive Thermal Power Plant has a generation capacity of 1200 MW
(10X120MW). While the captive thermal power plant provides entire electric power
requirement of aluminium smelter, it also feeds for approximately 35 MW of the power
requirement to the alumina refinery through the State Grid.

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Rolled Products Unit

Nalco has set up a 50,000 MT per annum Rolled Products Unit, integrated with the Smelter
Plant at Angul, for production of aluminium cold rolled sheets and coils from continuous caster
route, based on the advanced technology of FATA Hunter, Italy.

Port Facilities

On the Northern Arm of the Inner Harbour of Visakhapatnam Port on the Bay of Bengal, Nalco
has established mechanized storage and ship handling facilities for exporting Alumina in bulk
and importing Caustic Soda.

Wind Power Plants

The 1st wind power plant of capacity 50.4 MW (2.1MW, 24 nos. WEGs) in Gandikota, Andhra
Pradesh was commissioned in December 2012 and the 2nd wind power plant of capacity 47.6
MW (0.85 MW, 56 nos. WEGs) at Ludarwa site, in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan was commissioned in
Jan’2014. 3rd wind power plant of capacity 50 MW (2 MW, 25 nos. WEG) at Devikot site,
Jaisalmer, Rajasthan and a 50.4 MW (2.1MW, 24 nos. WEGs) Wind Power Plant at Sangli,
Maharashtra commissioned in FY 2016-17.

Solar Power

NALCO utilised the entire available roof top space in Corporate Office, Township and NRTC at
Bhubaneswar for setting up of 310 kW solar power plant.

NRTC – Testing Services

National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) has set up a new State-of-Art Research Centre,
spread over 18.21 acres of land namely Nalco Research & Technology Centre (NRTC) at
Gothapatana, Bhubaneswar equipped with all advance modern testing facilities.

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 Products
Aluminum metal

• Ingots

• T Ingots

• Sows

• Billet

• Wire Rods

Alumina & Hydrate

Zeoliote-A

Rolled Products

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Current News

• NALCO surpasses past production records, Net Profit soars to Rs. 2060 crore with an
impressive Revenue from Operations at Rs.13149 crore in FY24

• NALCO’s Q4 Net profit almost doubles to Rs. 1016 crore registering 95 per cent growth
year-on-year (Y-o-Y)

• National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), the Navratna CPSE, under the Ministry
of Mines, Government of India, has continued its robust growth trajectory in production
and sales during the Financial Year 24.

• According to the financial results, taken on record in the Board of Directors meeting
held today, NALCO has posted a net profit at Rs.2060 crore registering a robust increase
of 34 percent year-on-year (YoY). Beating market expectations, the company has also
recorded an impressive revenue from operations at Rs.13149 crore for the FY24.

• The net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 2024 registered multi-fold increase at
Rs 1016 crore against Rs.522 crore which is about 95 percent higher as compared to the
year-ago period.

• Nalco Sets New Records in Production and Sales, Achieves Highest-ever Aluminium &
Bauxite Production in Fy 23-24

• National Aluminium Company Ltd. (NALCO), the flagship Navratna CPSE under Ministry
of Mines, Govt. of India, and country’s leading manufacturer and exporter of alumina
and aluminium has created new records in production and sales for the year 2023-24.

• The company has achieved the highest-ever Cast Metal production of 4,63,428 Metric
Tonnes, highest-ever Bauxite Excavation of 76,00,230 Metric Tonnes and Highest-ever
Metal Sale of 4,70,108 Metric Tonnes, surpassing all previous records since inception. In
FY 23-24, the company has also added a new Aluminium Alloy Ingot (AL-59) to its
product range.
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• Achieving 101.15 % capacity utilization, NALCO’s Alumina Refinery has produced
21,24,000 Metric Tonnes of Alumina Hydrate, while the Captive Power Plant has
generated a gross 7193.62 million units of power. Worth mentioning that in FY 23-24,
NALCO has developed & operationalized its Utkal D coal block and has also produced 2
million tonnes of Coal, which is the peak rated capacity of the mine

• Shri Sridhar Patra, CMD, NALCO, said that the company has always striven to do better
than the previous set benchmarks. Expressing his gratitude for significant achievements,
he congratulated the NALCO collective and the stakeholders. Acknowledging the
dedication and hard work of the employees and cooperation received from various
stakeholders, he said that many major milestones have been achieved by way of
backward integration and securitization of raw materials and energy in the past four
years.

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Shri Sridhar Patra
Chairman-cum-Managing Director

Shri Sridhar Patra has been appointed as Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the Company
w.e.f. 17th December, 2019.

Shri Sridhar Patra joined the Company as Director (Finance) on 01.09.2018. Shri Patra was
assigned the additional charge of Chairman-cum-Managing Director w.e.f. 01.12.2019. Before
joining NALCO, he had served as Director (Finance) of THDC India Limited for more than 5 years.

Born on 12.10.1964, Shri Patra is a member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and
rank holder graduate in Commerce from Utkal University

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Smelting

• Smelting is a process of applying heat and a chemical reducing agent to an ore to extract
a desired base metal product. It is a form of extractive metallurgy that is used to obtain
many metals such as iron, copper, silver, tin, lead and zinc.

• Smelting uses heat and a chemical reducing agent to decompose the ore, driving off
other elements as gases or slag and leaving the metal behind.

• The reducing agent is commonly a fossil fuel source of carbon, such as carbon monoxide
from incomplete combustion of coke—or, in earlier times, of charcoal.

• The oxygen in the ore binds to carbon at high temperatures as the chemical potential
energy of the bonds in carbon dioxide (CO2) is lower than that of the bonds in the ore.

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Types of Mining
Open-cut mining is generally more suitable for large-scale operations, where the resource is
near the surface, and the environmental impact is minimal. Additionally, it is a more
economical method of obtaining some commodities, such coal and iron ore, which are
frequently found in significant concentrations close to the surface. Open-cut mining is also a
faster option, which can be beneficial for operations with tight production schedules.

Underground mining is more suitable for extracting resources that are deep beneath the
surface, where open-cut mining is not possible. It is also a more environmentally friendly option
for operations that need to minimize their impact on the surrounding ecosystem. For high-
grade minerals, underground mining can also be more cost-effective since the resource’s higher
value can make up for the higher extraction costs.

In terms of safety, both methods require strict safety protocols and regulations to protect
workers from harm. However, underground mining is generally considered to be more
hazardous, and therefore requires more safety precautions and training. Open-cut mining, on
the other hand, can still have safety risks, such as equipment failures and accidents, but these
risks are generally lower than those associated with underground mining.

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Captive power plant
A captive power plant is a facility that provides a localized source of power to an energy user.
These are typically industrial facilities, large offices or data centers. The plants may operate in
grid parallel mode with the ability to export surplus power to the local electricity distribution
network. Alternatively, they may have the ability to operate in island mode; i.e. independently
of the local electricity distribution system.

Captive power plants are a form of distributed generation, generating power close to the
source of use. Distributed generation facilitates the high fuel efficiency along with minimising
losses associated with the transmission of electricity from centralized power plants. Gas
engines can be combined with other power generation or storage technologies in microgrids.

About Aluminum

• Bauxite is an ore of Aluminium with chemical formula Al2O3. 2H2O. It is the primary ore
of Aluminium. Others ores of Aluminium are Cryolite, Corundum, Feldspar. Bauxite is a
sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source
of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al
(OH)3), boehmite and diaspore (α-AlO(OH)), mixed with the two iron oxides goethite
(FeO(OH)) and haematite (Fe2O3).

• Aluminum has low density, is non-toxic, has a high thermal conductivity, has excellent
corrosion resistance and can be easily cast, machined and formed. It is also non-
magnetic and non-sparking. It is the second most malleable metal and the sixth most
ductile.

• There are numerous characteristics that make aluminum and aluminum alloys one of
the world’s most important materials in use across an impressive range of industries.
This includes the appliance, architectural, aviation, and automotive industries, just to
name a few.

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Stress Strain Diagram of Aluminum

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Billet, Bloom, Ingot
Bloom, billet, slab, plate, sheet, strip are terms used in metalworking and
manufacturing.

Blooms undergo first breakdown of ingots through hot working and have a large cross-
sectional area.

Billets are further reduced through hot rolling. Slabs are hot rolled ingots with a specific
cross-sectional area and width.

Semi-finished casting products are classified into following types:

INGOT, SLAB, BLOOM & BILLET.

Ingot

Ingots are very large casting products, greater in size and shape than blooms, billets and
slabs. Ingot generally has rectangular/square cross section, but it is not necessary that it
should be uniform throughout its length. (Ingot may have variable cross section.

Bloom

blooms have rectangular /square cross section.

The cross-section area of bloom is always greater than 36 in 2 (230 cm 2)

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Blooms are used as rolling material in the manufacturing process of rails, seamless
pipes, etc.

Billet

• Billet is also a casting product. In new era of industry, generally the billets are
made with the help of machine called as CCM (continuous casting machine).

• Billet has a square cross section area, but cross section area of billet should be
same throughout its length. The cross-section area if billet is always less than 36
in2. The Billets are used in the manufacturing process of Steel Rebars.

Slab

A slab has rectangular cross section, slab has thickness lesser than bloom.

If we compare Ingot, Bloom, Billet and Slab based on their weight Then Weight of ingot
is greater than weight bloom is greater than Weight of billet is greater than weight of
slab.

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