Nalco alumina output may drop by a third

In the wake of 35 per cent drop in bauxite production in the aftermath of the Naxalite attack on its Panchapatmali mines, National Aluminium Company (Nalco) fears a one-third drop in its alumina output after 16 days, when the navratna PSU will run out of bauxite.

The alumina refinery of the company at Damanjodi, about 20 km from Panchpatmali in Koraput district, has a capacity to produce 1.57 million tonnes of alumina per annum and is now running at full capacity.

Average daily bauxite production at the mines has dropped from 14,000 tonnes to about 9,000 tonnes as the scared workers are reluctant to work after 5pm in the aftermath of the attack on April 12 which claimed the lives of 10 CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) jawans.

Addressing journalists here, A Chakraborty, general manager (mine), Nalco, said: “After 16 days, our alumina refinery plant would be starving for want of bauxite and the output would slide by about one-third.”

Nalco’s average alumina output at its refinery here stood at about 4,500 tonnes per day on average.

The B-shift for the miners, which used to be from 2pm to 10pm, was done away with by Nalco in view of safety concerns. The workers now work in two shifts, one from 6 am to 2 pm and the general shift from 8 am to 5pm.

CR Pradhan, chairman and managing director, and A K Sharma, director (production), today held another meeting with the four employees’ unions. The management has agreed in principle to strengthen security at the mines, provide special allowance to the workers and also allow a rotation policy for transfer of the workers to other units of the company.

The unions have called for transfer of at least 10 per cent mine workers in a year. Pradhan has asked the unions to form a committee on security, besides offering a special allowance and a rotation policy, says BK Subudhi, chief manager (human resource development).

The management has also approved an alternative location for shifting of the two explosives’ magazines at the mines. The new site is expected to be readied within a year to 18 months at a cost of Rs 7-8 crore.

It has also proposed to raise the CISF strength from 417 at present to 682.