September 08, 2008
Achievements of ministry of mines during 2007 - Detailed
The ministry of mines is responsible for survey and exploration of all minerals, other that natural gas, petroleum and atomic minerals for mining and metallurgy of non ferrous metals like aluminum, copper, zinc, lead, gold and nickel and for administration of the mines and minerals development and regulation Act 1957 in respect of all mines and minerals other than coal, natural gas and petroleum.
The achievements or initiatives taken by the government during the year up to November 2007 to streamline the mining sector are as under:
1. Reconnaissance permit
2. Performance of PSUs
a) National Aluminum Company Limited
b) Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited
c) Hindustan Copper Limited
d) Geological Survey of India
e) Indian Bureau of Mines
1. Reconnaissance permit
The policy changes in mineral sector have attracted many multinational companies for investment in exploration of base metals, noble metals and other scarce minerals. 268 reconnaissance permits covering an area of 367,387 square kilometers have been approved up to September 2007. The states for which reconnaissance permits have been approved so far are Andhra Pradesh with 46, Arunachal Pradesh with 1, Karnataka with 47, Rajasthan with 44, Chhattisgarh with 31, Madhya Pradesh with 37, Maharashtra with 10, Manipur with 1, Orissa with 24, Uttar Pradesh with 16, Jharkhand with 3, West Bengal with 3, Gujarat with 4 and Kerala with 1.
2. Performance of PSUs
a) National Aluminum Company Limited
The National Aluminum Company Limited achieved all time record sales turnover of INR 6515 crore, record export turnover of INR 2585 crore and record net profit after tax of INR 2381 crore. NALCO paid a dividend of 75% for 2006-07, amounting to INR 483.23 crore. Out of this amount, INR 421.27 crore was paid to the government of India and balance to other shareholders of the company.
The 2nd phase expansion of the company at an estimated project outlay of INR 5003 crore is in progress. The progress of the work has gained momentum and by the end of November 2007, orders have been placed involving financial commitments of INR 3570 crore and scheduled for commissioning by December 2008.
NALCO is exploring possibilities of setting up a Smelter plant abroad where cheap power is available. After a visit by NALCO team, a high level team from Indonesia visited NALCO in November 2007 for finalizing the MoU for setting up smelter & power plants in South Sumatra in Indonesia. Alternatively, the company is in talks with government or agencies in South Africa, Iran and Saudi Arabia for JV projects. It has been recommended for award of Navaratna status by the high power committee of government of India.
NALCO has been adjudged excellent for 12th consecutive year for performance assessment under MoU with the government.
Further to submission of mining plan and detailed project report, activities for land acquisition, forest clearance and compliance to terms of reference of ministry of environment and forest are under execution. Proposal for expression of interest for short listing of agencies for coal and OB outsourcing has been initiated for the allotted captive coal mine namely Utkal E coal block at Talcher in Orissa.
For development of ancillary and downstream industries in association with state government and subsequent to feasibility & market study report by consultant AF Ferguson the company is in the process of signing MoU with state government for allotment of land at Angul for setting up a JV Aluminum Park.
During the year, NALCO received the top export award of CAPEXIL, for the year 2006-07 and CITD Quality Award. All the production units namely bauxite mines, alumina refinery, smelter plant and captive power plant have been recertified by M/s RWTUV of Germany to ISO 9001: 2000 quality system & ISO 14001 for environmental standards. SA 8000 standard for corporate social responsibility has been taken up for implementation.
b) Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited
Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited is a premier exploration agency in the country with all ground exploration facilities available under one roof. The present authorized capital of the company is INR 125.00 crore and the paid up capital is INR 119.55 crore.
MECL carries out exploration activities under 2 major heads namely
Promotional work for coal, lignite and metallic minerals on behalf of and funded by Government of India. The schemes for detailed exploration are formulated by the company, in the perspective of the demand as against availability as well as national priorities.
Contractual work on behalf of other agencies including public sector, private sector and state governments as per contract executed by MECL with them.
During January 2007 to November 2007, MECL continued its core activity of exploratory drilling and exploratory / developmental mining for various minerals in different parts of the country. In addition, it continued the diversification activity in the field of coal sampling & analysis, supply of ballast stone to South Eastern Railways and slim hole drilling for CBM studies on behalf of CMPDIL and ONGC.
The upward trend in physico financial performance of the company has been maintained during 2007. Against the target of 173000 meter in drilling, the achievement has been 191492 meter and in developmental mining the achievement has been 6805 meter as against the target of 5900 meter. Thus, the targets for these activities have been exceeded by 10% and 15% respectively. The gross margin of the company stood at INR 119 million at the end of November 2007.
A total of 34 work orders valued at INR 887.595 million were received from various clients such as OMC APMDCL, Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation Limited & JSW WMDTCL for exploration of coal, Mine development work on behalf of UCIL and HCL, lignite exploration on behalf of NLC & BLMC, exploration of manganese on behalf of MOIL and coal sampling and analysis through MOU on behalf of SAIL, CCSO and subsidiaries of CIL etc.
LoI received from directorate general of hydrocarbon, government of India for carrying out resources estimation of oil shale deposit and syncrude potential in North Eastern Part of India MECL along with BRGM, France has started the work. MECL is also carrying out deep drilling for exploration of evaporite in the Bikaner Nagaur basin of Rajasthan which is a prestigious project of ONGC.
MECL bagged MoU Excellence Award for outstanding performance in the preceding year. The award was presented to MECL by Mr Jayaram Ramesh union minister of state for commerce & Industry. Government has conveyed approval for financial restructuring and wage revision in MECL and the same has been implemented.
c) Hindustan Copper Limited
The Hindustan Copper Limited is a central public sector enterprise under the administrative control of the ministry of mines. During the year 2006-07, HCL has earned a net profit of INR 313.94 crore after tax against the target of INR 118.35 crore. The Cabinet in its meeting held on 26th July, 2007 has approved the financial restructuring proposal of the Hindustan Copper Limited which includes
1) Conversion of non plan loan amounting to INR 50 crore into equity
2) Waiver of 7.5% non cumulative redeemable preference share amounting to INR 180.73 crore and its adjustment against accumulated losses
3) Restructuring of capital through reduction of face value of equity share from INR 10 to INR 5 amounting INR 382.21 crore and its adjustment against the accumulated losses
4) Restoration of superannuation age to 60 years to preserve skills and provide a breathing time to the organization for formulation of proper succession plan
5) Creation of post of director mining to drive the growth agenda in the mining domain
d) Geological Survey of India
Geological Survey of India is the main arm of the government for survey and exploration of mineral resources and creation of earth science data base for harnessing other natural resources for the benefit of the country.
Major initiatives taken by GSI during the year are as under
1) The cabinet has approved the acquisition of a new deep sea going research vessel for Geological Survey of India at an estimated cost of INR 448 crores for carrying out seabed surveys and exploration of non living resources. Procurement action for the research vessel is on.
2) Geological Survey of India is acquiring heliborne survey system fitted with sensors for improving the quality of exploration and for tapping deep seated mineral resources in addition to updating the techniques for ground geological and geophysical survey, precision analytical instruments and deep capacity drills. MOU has been signed between Pico Enviortech Inc, Canada and Geological Survey of India for the purchase of the heliborne system.
3) GSI Enterprise Information Portal went live in the Internet and can be accessed by any user. It envisages providing real time data to various stakeholders and users, including entrepreneurs, academicians and common public.
4) A disaster management control room has been created at GSI, to be in operation on 24x7 mode and to be connected to the disaster management support network.
5) GSI have reported that most of the glaciers of the Himalayas as well as in the other parts of the world are receding and this may be due to subnormal snowfall, higher temperature during summer, less severe winter or a combination of all of these. It may also be due to global warming, which is a debatable issue.
6) Union cabinet decided for setting up of a high powered committee to thoroughly review the functioning of Geological Survey of India and assess its capacity to meet the emerging challenges taking into the organization's technological and manpower resources.
e) Indian Bureau of Mines
Indian Bureau of Mines, during the year up to November 2007, inspected 1690 mines to promote systematic and scientific mining and pointed out 1305 violation cases. Through IBM initiatives, 952 violations were fully rectified and 393 mining plans and schemes were approved. During the period, 19 mining plans or schemes were not approved as they are found to be deficient.
