KIOCL to focus on mineral exploration as a separate vertical

Work on setting up Ductile Iron Spun Pipe and Coke Oven Plants in full swing in Mangaluru

M.V. Subba Rao, CMD, KIOCL, speaking in Mangaluru on Tuesday.

KIOCL is focussing on mineral exploration, including crome, iron ore and manganese ore, in different parts of the State apart from its core activities of mining and pelletisation, its Chairman and MD M.V. Subba Rao said here on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters about the activities of the company, Mr. Rao said KIOCL expects an income of about ₹85 crore from exploration activities this fiscal and intends to develop it as a separate vertical of the company.

It has already commenced geo-mapping of crome at Udbur village in Mysuru district while KIOCL has got exploration orders from the State for two blocks of limestone in Bagalkot district and iron ore/manganese in nine blocks of the Ballari-Chitradurga belt. After mapping, drilling activities will commence and reports will be submitted to the government. Allocation of mining rights however will be done through competitive bidding, he said.

Mr. Rao said during 2018-19, KIOCL produced 2.24 million tonnes of pellet and dispatched 2.21 million tonnes, including 1.52 million tonnes of export; the quantum of export was the highest since the closure of all its captive mines. With a turnover of ₹1,887.71 crore, the company posted ₹111.86 net profit, he added.

The CMD said KIOCL is poised to invest nearly ₹3,500 crore in the next two-three years in core as well as new business areas that inter-alia is expected to generate over 500 new permanent jobs. It has already set up 1.3 MW solar power plant in Mangaluru and is finalising land for 5 MW solar power plant.

Work is on for setting up 2 lakh tonne per annum Ductile Iron Spun Pipe Plant, 1.8 LTPA Coke Oven Plant and a 10 MW co-generation Captive Power Plant in Mangaluru.

DISP plant should be a success since Karnataka has no such plant and ductile pipes are in great demand for various water supply projects.

The company should be able to commence preliminary operations of 2 MPTA Iron Oxide Pelletisatio Plant and 2 MPTA Iron Ore Beneficiation Plant at Devadari range of Ballari district on execution of mining lease and preparing the detailed project report.