JVs with SAIL, RINL to be operational by July 2013: MOIL

New Delhi : State-run MOIL, earlier known as Manganese Ore India, today said its proposed two ferro alloy joint ventures with Steel Authority of India and Rashtriya Ispat will be operational within the next two years. "Work on the two plants will start soon and these are likely to be operational by June-July, 2013," MOIL chairman and managing director KJ Singh told PT.

MOIL, the largest domestic manganese producer, had separately signed MoUs with SAIL and RINL to set up two ferro alloy-making facilities in Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh, respectively. In both the ventures, MOIL would have a 50% stake. The JV agreement with SAIL was signed in 2007, while the pact with RINL was inked a year earlier. Ferro alloys are used in steel making for de-oxidising purposes. Singh said the Chhattisgarh plant would have a 1.06 lakh tonne per annum (tpa) ferro alloys manufacturing capacity and the Andhra Pradesh plant's capacity would be 57,000 tpa. The project cost for the two ventures would be around Rs 600 crore. While Rs 400 crore would go toward the venture with SAIL, an Rs 200 crore investment would be required for the venture with RINL, he said. MOIL currently operates 10 mines in the country -- six in the Nagpur and Bhandara districts of Maharashtra and four in Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh. The company meets about half of the total requirement of dioxide ore in the country. At present, MOIL's annual production amounts to around 11 lakh tonne.