Considering the fact of three-fold growth in the consumption of steel and aluminium by 2030, NALCO CMD Tapan Kumar Chand has asserted that skilled manpower will be highly valued because of the improvement in the sector.

He said, “The pattern of employment is undergoing a drastic change. The skill sets need to be realigned to meet the demands of the industries and cutting edge technology will provide the competitive edge.”

Stressing on the importance of generating employment, he said, ‘’As Aluminium sector is expected to grow substantially, NALCO is geared up for the next wave of expansion. Over 11,000 people will be recruited by NALCO in the near future and we will shortlist the candidates from UPSC screened list. We will not take written test for these candidates since they have already been screened by the UPSC.’’

He said, “Out of Rs 28,000 crores that is planned to be pumped in for expansion, NALCO has already committed around Rs 8,000 crores for expansion of various mega projects to generate employment.’’

He lauded the contribution of the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) for their role in creating employment opportunities for nearly 15 lakh people in Odisha, but opined the MSMEs were limited by their ability to leverage purchasing power parity and lack of brand recognition. To address such issues, he said, “We are ready to offer cashless model to help the MSME players and lend NALCO’s credible brand name for their sustainability. All of us must come together to foster entrepreneurship of small and medium enterprises. There is huge scope as India is poised to be the third largest economy, leading to huge increase in the GDP.”