Press Releases

BALCO conducts educational winter camp for Government School students

Balconagar, 6^th January 2023: The Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO), India’s iconic aluminium producer and a subsidiary of Vedanta Aluminium Business, conducted a weeklong winter camp to help students of classes 10 and 12 prepare for their upcoming Board Exams. Organized under BALCO’s ‘Project Connect’ education program, the goal of the camp was to provide extra tutorials for the students, to help improve their performance in the SEMA (Science, English, Mathematics and Accounts) subjects.

Initiated in the year 2016, Project Connect is aimed at supplementing the community’s needs for quality education, especially in Science, English, Mathematics and Accountancy (SEMA), through field instructors and volunteers from amongst BALCO’s employees. The project mainly focuses on improving the learning environment in government schools by creating an enabling environment for improving students’ grades, capacity building of teachers and career counselling, through employee volunteerism. More than 2500 students have benefitted from regular and remedial classes.

Around 300 students from 6 different schools in the vicinity of BALCO’s operations participated in the camp. A career counselling session was also conducted for students from class 9^th to 12^th where they were given an orientation on the various career paths available to them, guiding them towards pursuing educational aspirations in alignment with their interests. They were also informed about the available competitive exams and other preparations that they would need to undertake. The session aimed at helping students make an informed decision about their career.

Talking about BALCO’s intervention towards making education accessible, Mr. Abhijit Pati, CEO & Director, BALCO, said, “At BALCO, quality education is a key pillar in our community development endeavours. With the right skills and education, our youth can play a pivotal role in shaping the future of Chhattisgarh and India. Through impactful interventions, we are fostering quality education for different age groups in the region, along with promoting avenues for skill development among the local youth, helping them avail opportunities to learn employable skills, thus paving way for their financial security and holistic development. BALCO believes in enabling each individual in the community to empower themselves, and our various community development programs are aligned to that vision.”

Sharing her view on the program, Riny Dubey, Principal of Government School, Godhi, said, “BALCO is helping us create a conducive learning environment for our students which is highly commendable. Our students will certainly reap the benefits of these interventions. The career counselling support will help them make academic and job-focused decisions. Such endeavours will lead to further development in the region.”

Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO) is India’s iconic aluminium producer. It is owned 49% by the Government of India and 51% by Vedanta Limited. BALCO is part of Vedanta’s Aluminium Business, a division of Vedanta Limited, which is India’s largest manufacturer of aluminium. BALCO operates a 0.57 million tonne per annum aluminium smelter in Korba, Chhattisgarh. It is also a leader in value-added aluminium products that find critical applications in core industries. With its world-class smelter and power plants, the company fulfills its mission of spurring emerging applications of aluminium as the ‘Metal of the Future’ for a greener tomorrow.