The Nalco plant in Damonjodi. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, July 25: Navaratna public sector undertaking National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco) has been accorded final forest clearance for the renewal of its Panchapatmali bauxite mining lease.

Nalco, which has Asia’s largest integrated aluminium complex, will have mining lease in Panchpatmali south block in Koraput district for another 20 years, said senior officials of the company. They added that the Union environment and forest ministry had given clearance for diversion of 110.3 hectares of forestland.

The central PSU was initially granted mining lease for a period of 30 years, which has expired recently.

“Keeping in view the current expansion projects being implemented by the company at its different units, this approval will help the company enhance its production capacity at the desired pace,” said Nalco’s general manager (administration and corporate communications) Harish Pradhan.

Nalco has a bauxite mining project at Panchapatmali, an alumina refinery at Damanjodi (both in Koraput district) and an aluminium smelter as well as captive power plants in Angul.

According to company sources, the state government had earlier sought the Centre’s nod for the diversion of 110.3 hectares of forestland in the first renewal of mining lease in Panchpatmali south block for bauxite mining. After consideration of the proposal by the Forest Advisory Committee, conditional (stage-I) approval was accorded by the Union environment and forests ministry.

The Orissa government furnished the compliance report in respect of the conditions stipulated in the in-principle approval. On the basis of the compliance report, the Centre has granted final approval for diversion of 110.3 hectares of forestland in Panchpatmali, said Nalco officials.

As per the approval, the period of diversion of the forestland would be for a maximum period of 20 years.

The company has to fulfil certain conditions laid down by the ministry. The company will have to take up certain measures along with the state government for afforestation on degraded forestland.

It will also have to prepare plans to wean away the practitioners of ecologically destructive shifting cultivation in the vicinity of the forestland being diverted and provide funds for its implementation.

The Centre, while granting the approval, has also directed the state government to ensure proper utilisation of the company’s corporate social responsibility fund for peripheral development activities, said a Nalco release.