Mumbai, Oct 17 (IANS): National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) on the NSE fell over 4 per cent after the company informed the exchanges of acute shortage of coal to run operations.

NALCO said it is running out of buffer coal as there is a shortfall of around 7,000-8,000 tonnes coal per day.

"NALCO's requirement of coal for its CPP at Angul is around 17,000 tonnes per day. At present, NALCO's CPP is receiving around 8,000-9,000 tonnes per day and there is a shortfall of around 7,000-8,000 tonnes per day, " the company said in a regulatory filing.

"Due to this short supply, which is running since the last seven weeks, the buffer stock of coal available with NALCO's Captive Power Plant has been exhausted," it added.

NALCO said it fully depends upon Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd. for supply of coal to its Captive Power Plant at Angul, and Steam & Power Plant at Damanjodi.

The company further said that since, the coal supply position is not improving, in order to secure the safety of pots, NALCO "may be forced to further shut down up to 227 numbers of electrolytic pots in phases, depending upon the power generation in CPP, matching with coal receipt".

Also, short supply of coal has severely impacted Aluminium production of NALCO and also the cost of power, as the power purchased from the grid is costly as compared to the power produced by NALCO at its CPP, it added.