Bhubaneswar, July 31 (IANS) The state-owned National Aluminium Co. Ltd. (NALCO) has floated a tender to buy 200,000 tonnes washed coal for its captive power plant in Orissa's Angul town, a company official said Saturday.

The company will buy the coal from the domestic market, he said, adding that the last date for submission of bids is Aug 19.

The Bhubaneswar-headquartered NALCO is India's third largest producer of aluminium. It produces about 1,080 megawatts power at its captive power units that feeds its smelter also located in Angul, about 160 km from here, to produce aluminium.

Nalco which has nine power units of 120 megawatts each, is likely to commission its tenth unit of 120 megawatts in the end of August.

The official said the company has been already buying 50 percent of the coal it required for the ninth unit which was commissioned last year, while the rest is being met by coal provided by Mahanadi Coal Fields Limited (MCL), a subsidiary of state-run Coal India.

He said the company is buying coal as its requirement would be more when it commissions the tenth unit.

Nalco has produced 4.31 lakh tonnes of aluminium in 2009-10. After commissioning of the tenth power unit, Nalco aims to produce full installed capacity of 4.60 tonnes of aluminum at its smelter.