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Balco strike may halt smelting for months

An indefinite strike by workers at the Korba plant of Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd (Balco) is likely to halt smelting operations for the next three to four months, a company official said on Tuesday.

"It will take several months to revive the smelter. Our smelter experts say it could take three to four months on the optimistic side to restore," said Sahir Ahmed, Balco's general manager, personnel and administration.

More than 4,000 workers are on strike at the Korba plant since the weekend after the government sold a controlling stake of 51 per cent to copper and aluminium maker Sterlite Industries Ltd.

Balco runs a 200,000-tonne-per-annum alumina plant, a 100,000-tonne aluminium smelter and a 40,000-tonne hot and cold rolling mill at the plant.

Ahmed said there were 475 officers and 50 workers inside the plant and lack of labourers was affecting maintenance.

"The officers can maintain it (the plant) up to a limited period," he said.

Ahmed said the financial loss to the company due to the strike was estimated between Rs 15-20 million a day.

The official said once the smelter was closed, it would not be possible to restart it immediately and would cost at least Rs 400 million.

The company has also shut down three units of the power plant because consumption has drastically fallen due to the closure of the smelter, Ahemd said.

Officials had earlier said the strike had hit aluminium production but was unlikely to affect the country's long-term supplies. They said daily aluminium output loss because of the strike is about 270-285 tonnes.

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