National Amuminium signs pact with Rio Tinto for expansion
Friday, 12 December 2008, 22:36 IST
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Bhubaneswar: National Aluminium (Nalco), Asia's largest integrated aluminium producer, has signed a deal with Canada's Rio Tinto Alcan (RTA) for increasing its presence in India and abroad, Nalco said Friday. Under the strategic alliance agreement signed Thursday in Bhubaneswar, the two companies will share information to identify potential to create value for both the organizations, a company release said. Rio Tinto's business is exploring, mining, and processing mineral resources. Major products are aluminium, copper, diamonds, energy (coal and uranium), gold, industrial minerals (borax, titanium dioxide, salt, talc) and iron ore. Activities span the world but are strongly represented in Australia and North America with significant business in South America, Asia, Europe and southern Africa. Since inception, Nalco has a technology collaboration agreement with Aluminium Pechiney, a part of Rio Tinto Alcan. The new strategic alliance agreement with Rio Tinto assumes significance in view of ambitious growth plans that Nalco has, both in India and abroad, involving an estimated investment of about $8 billion, the company said. The alliance is expected to help Nalco enlarge its geographical spread, said Nalco managing director C.R. Pradhan. "Our positive relationship with Nalco dates back to 1981 with the deployment of RTA's alumina refining and smelting technologies in their highly successful facilities in India," said Sandeep Biswas, senior vice president, business development, RTA. "We are very pleased to be extending our relationship from a technical partnership to a business partnership," he added.
Source: IANS
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