Economy · 21 Aug 2026

NALCO fly ash rare earth recovery

Consider the following statements regarding NALCO's recent industrial-waste valorisation initiative:

  1. The pilot plant for processing bituminous coal fly ash, which has a capacity of 50 kg per day, was designed and established by CSIR-IMMT and KIIT University.
  2. The bauxite residue (red mud) valorisation plant became operational on the same day as the fly-ash plant and had already begun recovering rare earth elements.
  3. Among the products targeted for recovery from fly ash is an iron hydroxide residue enriched in scandium.
AOnly one
BAll three
COnly two
DNone
This question is based on: NALCO's Fly-Ash Plant Turns a 50-Year Pollution Problem Into a Critical-Minerals Play
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About this question

Why in news

NALCO inaugurated a first-of-its-kind indigenous pilot plant for processing bituminous coal fly ash at Bhubaneswar, alongside a groundbreaking ceremony for a bauxite residue (red mud) valorisation plant, both aimed at recovering rare earth elements from industrial waste.

Why for UPSC

UPSC often tests whether candidates conflate two parallel but distinct initiatives reported together - here, distinguishing the operational fly-ash pilot from the merely inaugurated red mud plant tests precision of reading, not just topic recall.

Prelims summary

NALCO's 50 kg/day fly-ash pilot plant (with CSIR-IMMT and KIIT University) recovers alumina, calcium silicate, quartz residue and a scandium-enriched iron hydroxide residue. A separate red mud valorisation plant, targeting rare earths and ferro-titanium alloy, was only ceremonially groundbroken, not yet operational.

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