National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco) is likely to commence mining at Pottangi blocks in Orissa soon. Despite winning the bid in July 2016, the company could not start mining for bauxite due to the lack of environmental clearance. Public hearing for this clearance was held on Tuesday at Koraput, Odisha.
Deben Kumar Pradhan, Additional District Magistrate of Koraput who presided over the meeting told Davis Index, mining will be functional after environmental nod from Ministry of Forests which will consider the suggestions and objections from the villagers.
The mine has an annual capacity of 3.5mn mt. Making the Pottangi blocks functional is a part of their fifth phase expansion plan. The company has invested Rs56bn for this.