The 23rd edition of the NALCO Foundation Day Lecture was held today at Bhubaneswar. The Foundation Day Lecture is a flagship annual event of National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO), the Navratna CPSE under the Ministry of Mines, Government of India. Continuing its long-standing tradition of fostering thought leadership and knowledge exchange, NALCO hosted Shri T. V. Narendran, CEO & Managing Director, Tata Steel Limited, who delivered the Foundation Day Lecture on the theme “Leadership: The Art of Transforming.” At the outset, presiding over the meeting, Shri Brijendra Pratap Singh, CMD, NALCO, described the NALCO Foundation Day Lecture Series as a vital platform for knowledge sharing and collective learning. He expressed his sincere gratitude to NALCO employees, contractual workforce, stakeholders, and the visionary founding leadership of the company for their continued contribution to its growth journey. Shri Singh attributed NALCO’s record-breaking performance in the first half of the current financial year to the dedicated efforts of its workforce, resulting in the company’s best-ever performance across physical, sales and financial parameters. Emphasizing that improvement is a continuous process, he said that sustained excellence requires constant learning, adaptation and organizational commitment. Delivering the Foundation Day lecture, Shri T. V. Narendran underscored the critical role of transformation, adaptability, sustainability, innovation and the effective use of technology in leadership. He observed that transformation is essential as every day presents new challenges, particularly in the context of global trade dynamics and evolving geopolitical scenarios that significantly impact business environments. Highlighting the role of leadership, he stated that leaders must remain future-ready through strategic planning and robust risk management systems.
Stressing that growth cannot occur in isolation, Shri Narendran underlined the importance of social accountability and responsibility. On technology adoption, he remarked that technology enhances productivity and must be embraced through continuous skill development and reskilling. The formal Vote of Thanks was proposed by Dr. Tapas Kumar Pattanayak, Director (HR), NALCO. Apart from NALCO employees, the event also witnessed the participation of senior officials from various industries, government representatives and members of academic institutions. It may be noted that NALCO has been organizing the Foundation Day Lecture Series since 2002, which has evolved into a respected forum for intellectual engagement, promoting a culture of learning, innovation and dialogue within the organization and the wider community.