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French firm Pechiney eyes NALCO pie

French aluminium maker Pechiney said on Tuesday it would be interested in being a strategic partner for India's state-run National Aluminium Company Ltd, high on the government's sell-off list.

"Obviously if the government seeks a strategic partner for NALCO, we think we can be a strategic partner. We have made it clear to the government we are interested in NALCO," Jean-Tierre Rodier, Pechiney chairman and CEO, told a news conference.

The Cabinet Committee on Divestment has recommended 15 per cent of NALCO be sold to international investors, 10 per cent to institutional investors and five per cent to retail investors.

The government, which owns 87 per cent of the nation's second-largest aluminium maker, would then go in for a strategic sale of a further 31 per cent of NALCO.

Asked if Pechiney had approached the government with a firm proposal, Rodier said the NALCO privatisation process had not yet formally started.

"Pechiney is exploring possibilities for setting up a greenfield bauxite-alumina refinery in Orissa," Rodier said.

NALCO shares closed 3.3 per cent higher at Rs 77.80 in a flat market before the comments.

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