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Indian metal firms report no Y2K bug problems

NEW DELHI: India's major aluminium, copper and zinc firms said on Saturday their smelters and other systems were operating normally after a smooth transition to 2000.

They said they would be watching systems for any Y2K problems over the next few days but did not anticipate any glitches because the necessary precautions had been taken.

"The systems at all NALCO plants are functioning normally. The rollover at the plants was smooth and everything is okay," a spokesman of the state-run National Aluminium Co (NALCO) told Reuters from the eastern city of Bhubaneshwar.

He said the company had ensured the Y2K compliance of all its microprocessor-based controls and systems.

"We are watchful for the next one week and will be vigilant to see if any problem surfaces," the spokesman added.

NALCO operates a 230,000-tonne-per-year aluminium smelter at Angul and an 800,000 tonnes per year alumina refinery at Damanjodi, both in the eastern state of Orissa.

A.K. Agarwala, director of India's largest private aluminium maker, Hindalco Industries Ltd HALC.BO, said: "The plants moved up very well, we had taken all precautions. Everything is working well. With God's blessings Hindalco's aluminium plant, power plant, alumina and foil plant are perfect in every respect."

Hindalco produced 123,790 tonnes of aluminium in the first half of 1999/2000 (April-March) compared with 118,558 tonnes in the year-ago period. It also produces more than 450,000 tonnes of alumina annually.

Indian Aluminium Co IALM.BO (Indal), 54.6 percent owned by Canada's Alcan Aluminium AL.TO, said the company did not face any problems during the rollover.

"No incidents at all. All our factories and mines are fine," said R.P. Singh, Indal's vice-president for human resources.

Indal is enagaged in all stages of the business, from bauxite mining, alumina refining and aluminium smelting to downstream semi-fabricated products like sheets, foils and extrusions.

Hindalco, NALCO and Indal together account for about 75 to 80 percent of India's aluminium output.

B.N. Mittal, director (smelting operations) of state-run Hindustan Zinc HZNC.BO, said its operations were normal since the plants had complied with Y2K requirements.

"The smelter and mines have rolled over smoothly and operations are normal. There was no glitch," Mittal told Reuters from Udaipur in the northwestern state of Rajasthan.

Hindustan Zinc has a 49,000-tonnes-per-year zinc smelter in Udaipur, a 70,000 tonnes per year-smelter in Chittorgarh and a 33,000-tonne-per-year smelter in Vishkapatnam.

D.D. Jalan, joint executive vice-president of Birla Copper, said the company's plant at Dahej in Gujarat state and financial systems at Bombay were functioning normally. "There is no problem of Y2K. It (the Dahej plant) is functioning normally..."

The company has a capacity to produce 100,000 tonnes of copper annually.

The Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd STRL.BO copper smelter in south India was also functioning normally at full capacity, a senior firm official said.

"Everything is fine at our smelter and the transition to the new date has passed off smoothly and we're now at our full capacity," the official, who did not wish to be identified, told Reuters by telephone from the southern town of Tuticorin.

Sterlite has a 100,000 tonne per annum copper smelter in the port town of Tuticorin, 575 km (360 miles) south of Madras.-Reuters