KIOCL Limited : Towards Rejuvenation

By Malay Chatterjee | Chairman & Managing Director | KIOCL Limited

KIOCL Limited, a flagship company under the Ministry of Steel, Govt. of India having its corporate office at Bangalore was formed on 2^nd April 1976 for Mining & Beneficiation of low grade Iron Ore at Kudremukh, Karnataka.   

KIOCL being an eco friendly socially responsible Corporate, Strengthening the Nation through Iron foundation with a brand for quality and expertise has earnestly pursued excellence in fields of its core business of Iron Ore Mining, Beneficiation & Pelletization from the last four decades.

The road navigated was not a bed of roses for this mining giant, honoured with Mini Ratna status, but, instead of repenting on what was lost it always strived for a new destiny. Being the first Company to have fully integrated operations in India, stretching right from mine to Port and then Markets in Overseas & Domestic, modified the design of pellet plant to suit the haematite iron ore and stabilized the process of pellet making within a short span of time using in house R & D.  KIOCL is profoundly distinctive.

KIOCL has charted out a vertical for growth, venturing into different areas and sectors, setting the stage for scripting new sagas of success. Besides utilizing its expertise in Beneficiation & Pelletization skills, the company offers the expert services required for Designing, Commissioning and Operating mines across the Country.

Marching Ahead

KIOCL is in the path of rejuvenation. The fundamentals of KIOCL are quite strong combined with healthy liquidity & expert workforce in hand; Company is focusing on its strategy, exploring to invest strategically in creating new growth vectors for the future, while continuing to drive its core to full potential. The relentless efforts are shaping up gradually & delivering results, in the form of Govt. of Karnataka’s recent notification for reserving an Iron Ore block through reservation route at Bellary sector and KIOCL will soon be stepping back into mining.

KIOCL has also signed a number of MOUs with sister PSUs in the Centre, State & Academic Institutions in R & D field for undertaking exploration & mining of minerals, setting up value addition plants in different parts of the country.

The scenario is slowly paving way for a leap and the pellet production is edging up to reach the 1.5 million MOU target in the current fiscal year. The Blast furnace operations of manufacturing Pig iron shall commence soon.

Diversification & Expansion

Many revenue generation ventures have been taken up with various PSUs in order to encash the professional expertise and experience in Erection & Commissioning, Operation & Maintenance (O&M) of Iron-Ore Beneficiation Plants & Pellet Plants. Mainly O&M contract at Orissa Mining Corporation, Kaliapani, Orissa and O&M of 1.2 MTPA capacity Pellet Plant & 1.89 MTPA Beneficiation Plant of NMDC at Donimalai and many more are on the way.

The JV agreement between West Bengal Mineral Development & Trading Corporation (WBMDTC) is gaining pace as the process for formation of a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) has already begun. This project will envisage on investment of Rs 850 crore for exploration, extraction and beneficiation of iron ore based on the Techno-feasibility Report. It is for the first time WBMDTC had tied up with KIOCL on 51:49 % of JV.

The option for power generation in the form of  Solar energy and to boost the usage of this power source, KIOCL is setting up a 380 kWp roof top solar power plant at the existing buildings located at Pellet Plants & Blast Furnace units at Mangalore through a power purchase agreement (PPA) with M/s Clean Max Enviro Solution Pvt. Ltd.

KIOCL is also planning to set up forward & backward integration projects to its Blast Furnace Unit. In this regard, TEFR has been  prepared for setting up of 0.15 MTPA Steel Plant and the project envisages setting up of Raw material receipt, storage and handling facilities,  Sinter Plant, steel melting shop and continuous casting plant, rolling mills etc .

KIOCL has planned to commence the Mining operation at Devadari range of Sandur taluk in Bellary Sector on obtaining the statutory clearances and shall be setting up 4 MTPA Iron Ore Beneficiation Plant & 2.0 MTPA Iron Oxide Pelletization plant on execution of Mining Lease & preparation of Techno-Economic Feasibility Reports (TEFR) & Detailed Project Reports (DPR). The total investment by KIOCL for the project shall be to the tune of Rs. 1500-2000 Cr in the state of Karnataka. 

KIOCL has also been recognised as Mineral Exploration entity under section 4 (1) of MMDR Act 1957 for carrying out Mineral Exploration works across the country. Company will shortly be taking up G4 level exploration for a few mineral bearing blocks allocated by Ministry of Mines, GoI, under the National Mineral Exploration Trust Programme.

Make In India

KIOCL is making concerted efforts to go for higher volumes in order to improve its capacity utilization and also earn precious foreign exchange for the country through ‘Make in India’ initiatives. Under this, a concept has been implemented to use the Pellet Plant also as a tolling plant to optimize the production capacity and convert imported ore/ concentrate into pellets and supply back to the customers contributing 25% of the export by Pellets from the Country.

Skill India

To unravel the masked skills and to mould the individual capacities of ITI/Diploma and Engineering students, KIOCL, with strategic competency skilled with integrity, in collaboration with Quess Corp Limited has set up “KIOCL-QUESS ACADEMY” which shall bestow knowledge of radical aptitude, creating an optimistic pathway for the students. The infrastructure provided by KIOCL to impart skilful knowledge to the aspirants  with Training Halls to impart training to about 120 persons in 2 batches at a time and also a well equipped Laboratory.

In addition, KIOCL also provides suitable technical advice on course curriculum. The top notch research methodology with the expertise of industry professionals enriches the quality of training imparted with a syllabus approved by NSDC. The Academy is a Resource Development Centre and Centre for Excellence with a global expertise pertaining to mining, iron and steel sector.

In the meantime, efforts are also being made to develop this centre as PMKK (Prime Minister’s Koushal Kendra).

CSR & Swachh Bharath

KIOCL’s Corporate Social Responsibility strategy is designed to ensure positive impact on the people and communities. KIOCL firmly believe that demonstrating good practice in all aspects of CSR creates long-term value for our shareholders. Company has donated in large scale to various Institutions, Hospitals, Orphanages, Old age homes and the Public in general by constructing buildings, giving scholarships, providing equipments health care etc.,

In response to Swachh Bharat- Swachh Vidyalaya mission launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister, KIOCL has constructed a number of toilets & urinals and renovated/repaired toilets & urinals in various Government schools in the State of Karnataka in addition to taking up maintenance of constructed toilet facilities.

Eco-Care

KIOCL believes that any development can be fulfilled as long as the environment within which the society exists is not allowed to deteriorate. Caressing the Environment, it always strives for preserving our natural treasures and retains our Green World to the coming generations, by evolving innovative ways to reduce the consumption of natural resources and develop solutions leading to sustainability and protection of global environment. It believes in the three R’s, reducing, recycling and reusing.

(Shilpa Bichitra | Anniversary Edition | 2017)