From spiderhunters@yahoo.com Fri May 23 21:11:39 2003
Date: Sun, 11 May 2003 10:18:45 -0700
From: Vivek Tiwari
To: nathistory-india@Princeton.EDU
Subject: Fwd: kudremukh
> From: "Debi Goenka"
> To:
> Subject: Emailing: 06kudremukh
> Date: Wed, 7 May 2003 09:26:35 +0530
>
> Kudremukh applies for mining lease in Karnataka
>
> Kudremukh applies for mining lease in
> Karnataka
>
> Fakir Chand in Bangalore | May 06, 2003 21:07
> IST
>
>
> Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd, the country's
> largest mining and pelletisation public sector
> enterprise, has applied to the Karnataka government
> for a mining lease to source its raw material
> (hematite ore) from teh Bellary-Hospet region in the
> northern part of the state.
>
> Ever since the Supreme Court ordered in
> October 2002 to shut down its mining operations in
> the rich bio-diversity Western Ghats by December
> 2005, the profit-making 100 percent export-oriented
> unit has been on the look out for alternate mining
> areas as part of its survival strategy.
>
> Kudremukh's newly appointed chairman P Ganesan
> told rediff.com in Bangalore on Tuesday that the
> company was awaiting permission from the state
> government to get cracking at the new mining area,
> which contains about 200 million tons of iron ore
> reserves with high ferric content.
>
> Mining areas thrown open
>
> As part of its new mining policy, the state
> government has recently thrown open the mining areas
> in the Bellary region to the private and public
> sectors through a gazette notification.
>
> Kudremukh has filed its application on April
> 16, 2003, seeking license to mine in the Ramanadurg
> area, which falls between the steel towns of Bellary
> and Hospet. It has applied for a 30-year lease, with
> a provision (clause) for another 20-year extension
> for an automatic renewal of the lease agreement.
>
> "We are in the process of finalizing alternate
> sources for the feed material that goes into our
> pellet and concentrate plants at Mangalore on the
> western coast of the state from 2006 onwards."
>
> "Though the Supreme Court has permitted us to
> continue mining activity in the present area till
> December 2005, we will operate only in the broken-up
> areas keeping in view the guidelines that came along
> with its order," Ganesan stated.
>
> Since the company will be requiring around 4.5
> million tons of feed material annually to produce
> 3.5 million tons of iron pellets and 2.5 million
> tons of fines (concentrate) from the blast furnace,
> it is also exploring the possibility of importing
> some quantities of the raw material from Australian
> and other countries.
>
> Contingency plans
>
> "We are working on all contingency plans to
> keep our pellet and concentrate plants operate to
> their full capacity and meet our export commitments
> beyond 2005.
>
> By the time the apex court order comes into
> force, we are keen to source most of our
> requirements from the Bellary-Hospet mines as
> shipping the raw material will become convenient
> with the opening up of the railway line from Bellary
> to Mangalore via Hassan by 2004-05," Ganesan
> disclosed.
>
> The 34-year-old company is making a budgetary
> provision of Rs 400 crore (Rs 4 billion) for
> operating the new mines, which includes
> infrastructure to mine and extract the ore, site
> facilities, pollution control systems, and new
> tracks to the nearest railway station (Thorngallu)
> in the south west railway zone.
>
> As the blast furnace and other machinery in
> the Mangalore plant have been designed to process
> only magnetite ore, which it has been mining in the
> Kudremukh region over the years, the company will be
> modifying the production facilities to process the
> hematite ore at the new mines.
>
> The benefits
>
> "Karnataka and the Center continue to get
> revenue benefit from our enterprise annually, with
> Rs 200 crore (Rs 2 billion) going to the state
> exchequer by way of cess, royalty, and energy
> consumption, where as the Union government is paid a
> handsome dividend of Rs 60 crore (Rs 600 million)
> for holding 99 percent of the company's paid-up
> equity of Rs 634 crore (Rs 6.34 billion).
>
> The Rs 727 crore (Rs 7.27 billion) company has
> also floated global tenders to import the feed
> material from overseas and enter into joint
> collaboration with multinationals for marketing its
> high quality productions in potential countries.
>
> Negotiations are on with an Australian firm to
> source the feed material and process it at its
> Mangalore plant for jointly exporting the product to
> third countries.
>
> During the fiscal year 2002-03, the company
> exported its pig iron pellets and concentrate
> (fines) mainly to Japan, China, and Taiwan though
> there is enough demand for the products in the
> Asia-Pacific region, Africa and Europe, thanks to
> the cost advantage and high quality of its products.
>
> Tough times
>
> After the original 30-year mining lease
> agreement with the state government expired in 1999,
> the beleaguered company has been on borrowed time,
> seeking extension every year from the state as well
> as the Center to survive and fulfill its export
> commitments.
>
> Out of a total revenue of Rs 727 crore, the
> company's net sales of Rs 636 crore (Rs 6.36
> billion) came from exports, fetching precious
> foreign exchange during the fiscal year 2002-03. Its
> net sales for the previous fiscal year (2001-02) was
> Rs 721 crore (Rs 7.21 billion).
>
> According to the unaudited results for the
> fiscal year under review, Kudremukh posted a net
> profit of Rs 89.10 crore (Rs 890.10 million) as
> against Rs 88.37 crore (Rs 880.37 million).
>
> Expansion strategy
>
> Even as the company draws post-2005 survival
> strategy, the new chairman, who was earlier with the
> Steel Authority of India, is planning to expand the
> existing operations and diversify into synergistic
> products for value addition and optimal utilization
> of resources.
>
> "As part of our expansion plans, we are
> looking at contracting new mines in the iron
> ore-rich states of Orissa and Jharkhand. In view of
> the bright potential to export our products in the
> international markets at competitive rates,
> additional capacity with new plants at the ore site
> will be not only economical, but also profitable,"
> Ganesan affirmed.
>
> Under its diversification plans, the company
> has engaged SAIL to conduct techno-economic study
> for setting up a coke-oven battery plant adjacent to
> its blast furnace in Mangalore.
>
> "It will be a downstream product that will
> enable us to utilise the lumps and the fines
> extracted from the pelletisation process of the iron
> ore," Ganesan added.
>
> Share your comments on this article
>
>
>
>
> Article Tools
>
>
>
> Email this Article
>
>
>
> Printer-Friendly Format
>
>
>
> Letter to the Editor
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Related Stories
>
>
>
>
> 9 steel firms may be bailed out
>
> India will need steel capacity
>
>
>
>
>
> People Who Read This Also Read
>
>
>
>
> TCS buys 75.1% stake in AFS
>
> i-flex survives IT share crash
>
> Govt optimistic of sustaining
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> HOME
> NEWS
> BUSINESS
> CRICKET
> SPORTS
> MOVIES
> NET GUIDE
> SHOPPING
> BLOGS
> ASTROLOGY
> MATCHMAKER
>
> © 2003 rediff.com India Limited. All Rights
> Reserved.
>
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com