By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, January 20, 2018: The prospect of expansion in the Aluminium sector in Odisha, particularly in the upcoming Angul Aluminium Park has attracted the attention of the visiting high level delegation team from Italy.

The delegation led by the Consul General of Italy, Italian Aluminium Association, CEOs and senior executives of different Italian organisations attended the Indo-Italian Metal Hub seminar held here on Saturday, has evinced interest to invest and collaborate with its counterparts in Odisha and India, officials said.

The seminar was organised by the Aluminium Association of India (AAI).

The delegation deliberated with the Indian team led by National Aluminium Company Ltd (NALCO), the state government, businesses and government agencies and industry to work out the way forward to collaborate in the Aluminium sector.

Italian Consul General in India Damiano Francovigh highlighted the need for improvement of bilateral relations between India and Italy, saying, “Strengthening economic cooperation between India and Eastern India will go a long way in improving relations between Italy and India. The Indo-Italian Metal Hub seminar titled ‘Aluminium Age’ is also an effort in that direction.’’

Speaking on the occasion, Odisha minister for housing and urban development, Niranjan Pujari said, “Odisha offers the perfect ecosystem to be the Hub of Aluminium sector and we are committed to forge strong economic tie with Italy. The molten aluminium can be directly obtained from NALCO when the Angul Aluminium Park becomes operational.”

Industry principal secretary Sanjeev Chopra strongly pitched the upcoming Angul Aluminium Park, saying, “This visit by the Italian delegation team has come at a very opportune time as the future looks bright for investors looking at investing in the aluminium sector in Odisha. The potential for collaboration is immense. The response to the Angul Aluminium Park is unprecedented and will become a major centre in the world for aluminium downstream activities. The Park will rival the best in the world and NALCO will be there to provide concessions and hand-holding support to organisations.”

Welcoming the delegates and officials, NALCO executive director S.K.Dash said, “We welcome the visiting delegation team from Italy and are ready to walk the extra mile to make Angul Aluminium Park an attractive investment destination for businesses.”

The Seminar is expected to pave the way for discussion amongst important players, businesses, state government and government agencies, and associations of Indian and Italian industry in the engineering, metals and transportation sectors.

The Italian delegation was represented by Damiano Francovigh, Italian Consul General in India, Maurizio Sala, President, Amafond, Ms. Francesca Bruni, President, Art Valley, among other dignitaries, while the Indian team was led by Pratap Aditya Mishra, additional director general, Aluminium Association of India officials, senior officials from NALCO, Kamal Prakash, Director, Jiwanram Sheoduttrai Group, and other businesses and government officials.

The seminar was preceded by a site visit to proposed Angul Aluminium Park on Friday.