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MAJOR DECISIONS AND INITIATIVES
MINES
The UPA Government completes one year on May 21, 2005. During this period, the Government has taken several important initiatives. Some of these are being brought out in the series ‘Major Decisions and Initiatives’.
The Ministry of Mines is responsible for survey and exploration of all minerals, other than natural gases, petroleum and atomic minerals; for mining and metallurgy of non-ferrous metals like aluminium, 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 Government has taken several steps during the first year of its existence to streamline the mining sector:
Revision of Royalty of Major Minerals
Based on the recommendations of a study group, rates of royalty on major minerals, other than coal, lignite and sand for stowing and dead rent have been revised.
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. Reconnaissance Permit (RP) covering an area of over 2,54,307 sq.kms have been granted till March 31, 2005, of which 23 reconnaissance permits for an area of over 34,642 sq. kms were granted during the year 2004-05. Reconnaissance Permits have been approved for projects in Andhra Pradesh (38), Karnataka (37), Rajasthan (37), Chhattisgarh (24), Madhya Pradesh (20), Orissa (16), Uttar Pradesh (9), Gujarat (4), Jharkhand (1), Haryana (1) and West Bengal (1).
A meeting of the reconnaissance Permit holders, State Governments and concerned Ministries of the Central Government under the chairmanship of Secretary, Mines was held on October 6, 2003 to review the progress of Large Area Prospecting Licenses and other related issues.
Performance of Mineral Sector
The index of mineral production (base year 1993-94=100) for the year 2004-05 is estimated at 155.1, as compared to 146.9 for 2003-04, showing a growth of 5.6 per cent.
Foreign Direct Investment
In the Mining Sector, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Policy has already been liberalised. FDI upto 100 per cent is now allowed through automatic route for exploration and mining, except for diamonds and precious stones. For diamonds and precious stones 74 per cent FDI is allowed through automatic route and beyond this limit the cases are considered by FIPB on case to case basis. The Act and Rules governing mineral concession, have already been amended to facilitate private investment and FDI in the mining sector.
Performance of Public Sector Undertakings
National Aluminium Company
The Government has approved the second phase expansion of the National Aluminium Company Ltd. (NALCO) at a cost of Rs.4091.51 crore. The company received the Best Exporter Award 2003 and its captive thermal power plant bagged the prestigious Indira Gandhi Parayavaran Puraskar for the year 2000.
The Company has closed the financial year 2004-05 with the highest ever net profit of Rs.1,222.43 crore, recording an increase of 66 per cent over the previous year figure of Rs.737.37 crore.
The company has also reported an all time record sales turnover of Rs.4,437.97 crore, compared to Rs.3,348.57 crore in the previous year, recording a growth of 33 per cent. During the year 2004-05, the export business of the company crossed Rs.2,200 crore, compared to Rs.1,717 crore in the previous year.
During the year, the company established new records in all the segments. The company's bauxite mines crossed the rated capacity to achieve the highest ever production of 48.52 lakh tonnes against 48.17 lakh tonnes in the previous year. Similarly, alumina production increased to 15.75 lakh tonnes from 15.56 lakh tonnes and cast metal production reached at 338,527 tonnes from 298,207 tonnes during the previous year.
On the marketing front, NALCO recorded the highest ever domestic aluminium metal sales of 205,797 tonnes compared to 166,650 tonnes in 2003-04. Export metal sale of 132,730 tonnes is a new record compared to 129,719 tonnes in the previous year. Higher volumes and improved market conditions have helped the company to report record results.
The company has started work on the 2nd phase expansion programme. This will raise the bauxite mines capacity from 48 lakh tonnes to 63 lakh tonnes, alumina capacity from 15.75 lakh tonnes to 21 lakh tonnes and aluminium production capacity from 3.45 lakh tonnes to 4.60 lakh tonnes.
Mineral Exploration Corporation
During the year 2004-05, the Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL) continued mineral exploration activities in the State of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradsesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. In addition, it has taken up deep drilling for geo-technical investigation around Banihal area in the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
As a result of vigorous marketing efforts, cost effective measures and optimum utilisation of resources, the financial performance has shown remarkable improvement and the achievements have exceeded the MoU targets. The company has turned around and achieved a net profit of Rs. 244 lakh during the year, after a gap of 14 years.
The achievement in drilling has been 1,73,117m. against 1,72,281m. during 2003-04. In all, 6317 m. of developmental mining was carried out as against 3357 m. during the previous year, an improvement of 88 per cent. The sales/turnover of Rs. 7,364 lakh was achieved as against Rs. 6,089 lakh representing an improvement by 21 per cent. The gross margin has been in positive throughout the year and it stood at Rs.1,794 lakhs as against Rs.1,253 lakhs during 2003-04.
A total of 4,232 million tonnes of mineral reserves, which include 3,013 million tonnes of coal, 1,200 million tonnes of lignite, 9.68 million tonnes of bauxite, 5.27 million tonnes of Ferro-silicon grade quartzite, 0.01 million tonnes of Chromite and 3.41 million tonnes of copper ore, have been added to National Mineral Inventory.
Hindustan Copper
After incurring losses for seven consecutive years, Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) has made a turnaround during the financial year 2004-05, and posted a net profit of Rs.52.07 crore against a projected loss of Rs. 67.67 crore.
The company has increased its ore production from 28.95 lakh tonnes in 2003-04 to 29.23 lakh tonnes in 2004-05.It milled around 32.36 lakh tonnes of ore during the year against 29.42 lakh tonnes milled in 2003-04.During this period metal in concentrate production has increased from 28306 tonnes to 28926 tonnes. The company has reduced its liabilities by more than Rs. 100 crore. It has reduced its interest burden from Rs.59.63 crore in 2003-04 to Rs. 42.77 crore during the year 2004-05 by swapping of instruments.
HCL has re-commissioned Khetri Mine and operated with reduced manpower.
Geological Survey of India
Geological Survey of India (GSI) has acquired world class equipment for effective exploration activities and accurate geo-scientific studies. Besides its day-to-day activities, it has taken up marine seabed surveys, geological studies in Antarctica and other geo-scientific studies. It has published Seismetectonic Atlas of India and started a broad band seismic observatory at Jabalpur. GSI net remains one of the thrust areas in the field of Information Technology. Local Area Network (LAN) is under progress at all the regions and central headquarters. The project GSI Portal envisaged knowledge management and business process integration through intranet and extranet. GSI Website (www.gsi.gov.in) disseminates updated information, including recent findings as well as tender inquiry notices. During the year, GSI has been declared by the Government as the Nodal Agency on Landslide Studies. It has also taken up post Tsunami geological studies in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and the Indian coast.
Indian Bureau of Mines
Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), during the period June 2004 to March 2005, inspected 2,238 mines to promote systematic and scientific mining and pointed out 2,251 violation cases. Through IBM initiatives, 1125 violations were fully rectified and 586 mining plans and schemes were approved. During the period, 99 mining plans/schemes were not approved as they were found deficient.
International Co-operation
The 18th meeting of the Indo-French Working Group on Mineral Exploration and Development was held in Paris, France during November 8-9, 2004. It reviewed the status of completed projects, progress of on-going projects and also identified and prioritised five new projects for future co-operation. The 10th Session of the Indo-Russian Working Group on Ferrous and Non-Ferrous Metallurgy was held in New Delhi during November 16-17, 2004. The Mines Ministry participated in the Indian Mining Mission to Iran during May 1-7, 2004 to explore business opportunities between Iran and India in the mining sector.
Research and Development
The recent induction of Cameca SX 100 EPMA equipment in the Central Petrological Laboratory has opened a new vista in the micro level analytical technique.
Studies in the Bhagirathi River Delta were undertaken to understand the distribution pattern of arsenic in the shallow aquifer sediments. The studies reveal several small curvilinear patches of flood plains that always yield high arsenic value in shallow aquifers.
Continued research work on the fossil bearing Lameta Formation and the inter trappeans of Central India unearthed dinosaur nests with megalolithic eggs attributable to the genus Titanosaurus and an axis of titanosauriforms. The latter is the first report of its kind.
National Mineral Awards
The National Mineral Awards 2002 were presented to 18 outstanding scientists / technologists, in recognition of their meritorious services and contribution in their respective fields. The National Mineral Award for Excellence - 2002 was conferred on Dr. Harsh K. Gupta, Secretary, Department of Ocean Development. The National Mineral Awards for 2003 were given to 26 scientists, engineers and technologists.
India Mining Summit 2005
India Mining Summit 2005 was organised by the Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) at Bangalore during February 17-18, 2005, to provide interaction on policy issues between the Government and the prospective miners and mining machinery manufacturers.
RK:LV
PIB SF-21(12.05.2005)
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