Nalco Joint Venture Firm KABIL Signs MoU With Oil India

Khanij Bidesh India Ltd. and Oil India Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding at the corporate headquarters of National Aluminium Company Ltd. in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday, according to a press release on the BSE.

KABIL is a joint venture of three government enterprises—Nalco., Hindustan Copper Ltd., and Mineral Exploration and Consultancy Ltd.—formed under the Ministry of Mines.

The MoU was signed by Sadashiv Samantaray, director (commercial) of Nalco and chief executive officer of KABIL and Ranjan Goswami, executive director (business development) of Oil India, in the presence of Sridhar Patra, chairman and managing director of Nalco and chairman of KABIL and other senior officials of Nalco, KABIL and Oil India.

The objective of the MoU is to collaborate in existing and future projects of KABIL with the aim of strengthening and fostering connections in the exploration and exploitation of critical minerals.

The press release said the pact was signed with the aim of finding "international critical mineral opportunities" and doing their "comprehensive due diligence" in identifying and exploiting potential critical mineral opportunities and to co-invest in potential critical mineral projects.

Patra called the initiative a "step forward" in the country's aim towards "Atma Nirbhar Bharat" and mineral securitisation.

Shares of Nalco closed 0.82% lower at Rs 184 apiece on the NSE, compared to a 0.14% advance in the NSE Nifty 50.