The site for the refinery is likely to be finalised by the authorities soon. A major chunk of land at Rachapalli panchayat near Makavarapalem mandal has been identified where the private Anrak company is busy constructing its alumina refinery.
Nalco received central government approval to mine bauxite for its proposed alumina refinery in Visakhapatnam 20 months ago. With the approval, Nalco would be able to mine an estimated deposits of 85Mt of bauxite reserves in Gudem of G K Veedhi mandal in Visakha Agency and Katamraju Konda in East Godavari district.
The 1.4Mt/y greenfield refinery at an estimated investment of more than INR40bn ($900M) is expected to be commissioned in the next three years.
Nalco has already conducted a survey for the site to set up refinery in the district.
The authorities have identified a major chunk of barren land, 1500 acres, at Rachapalli panchayat and another 200 acres of barren land at Koduru panachayat.
It is, however, estimated that the plant needs nearly 2000 acres. Setting up an alumina plant at the vicinity of another upcoming plant would not be a problem.