The Hindu Business Line : Kerala Minerals to source foreign tech for Rs 760-cr expansion

THE state-owned Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd (KMML) at Chavara near Kollam, the only company in the country producing titanium dioxide pigment rutile grade, would be sourcing environment-friendly technology from overseas for expanding its capacity to one lakh tonne involving a total investment of Rs 760 crore.

Discussions are in advance stage with the technology supplier and it would be finalised in three months, Mr K.P. Rajendran, Managing Director, KMML, told Business Line on Thursday. The expansion would be financed by the company from its own resources and assistance from financial institutions, he said.

Mr Rajendran, while declining to disclose the name of the company , said with the introduction of the new technology the current disposal problem of the iron oxide waste would be solved. At present, he said, the waste is disposed of in a 15-acre pond. After the new technology is adopted the waste would be neutral iron oxide, which could be utilised commercially.

Post-expansion, the cost of production would also come down significantly, he said.

Using the internal improvement measures the company raised its capacity to 36,000 tonne from 30,600 tonne last fiscal. This would be increased to 60,000 tonne in 2006 and one lakh tonne in 2007, he said. The company had been trying for long to source the latest technology, available only abroad, mainly in the US and France. The demand from overseas, especially the US, Germany, South Africa, China, Spain, is on the upward curve, he said. Last fiscal, 12,000 tonne of titanium dioxide pigment rutile grade had been exported and the target for this year has been fixed at the same level, as the company is not in a position to meet the increased demand at present, he said.

During the first quarter of the current fiscal, the production has gone up to 8,493 tonne from 7,167 tonne in the same period in 2004-05, while the sales increased from 6,659 tonne to 7,892 tonne, he said. The sales have gone up despite five per cent reduction in import duty and rise in the prices of titanium dioxide pigment rutile grade, he added.

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