A Decade Later, NALCO Yet to Begin Gallium Extraction Project.

In 2016, state-owned aluminium producer National Aluminium Company (NALCO) signed a memorandum of understanding with the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) to develop technology for extracting gallium, a strategic and valuable rare metal, from Bayer liquor generated during the alumina refining process.

At the time, NALCO had said the project would mark its first research and development collaboration with BARC, aimed at developing indigenous technology for gallium extraction in the national interest. Then NALCO chairman Tapan Kumar Chand had noted that Bayer liquor, or sodium aluminate liquor, typically contains trace amounts of gallium that can be recovered through specialised processes.

Nearly a decade later, however, the project has yet to take off. According to a recent report by Motilal Oswal Financial Services, NALCO told analysts that a pilot plant is now being set up to assess the technical and commercial feasibility of gallium extraction, indicating that the initiative remains at a preliminary stage despite the time elapsed since the original agreement.