2
SEPTEMBER 30
I
2009
MANUFACTURING TITANIUM DIOXIDE THROUGH THE CHLORIDE ROUTE, KERALA MINERALS & METALS LTD (KMML) PRODUCES VERY PURE RUTILE GRADE TITANIUM DIOXIDE PIGMENT. THE DIFFERENT GRADES CHURNED OUT BY KMML UNDER BRAND NAME KEMOX HAS A READY MARKET WHICH ASKS FOR MORE. THE COMMENDABLE WORK IN RESEARCH BY
R&D DEPARTMENT HAS ALSO KMML TO ADD MORE COLOURS TO ITS PORTFOLIO. THE
HELPED
The history of the beaches of Sankaramangalam and nearby areas is inextricably intertwined with the history of the precious beaches and KMML. Precious, as was discovered in 1909 by the German scientist Dr. Schomberg who found traces of monazite in the sand flakes on the imported coir from Sankaramangalam. The beaches with a wealth of rare earth minerals became the centre of scientific attraction. By 1932, a visionary private entrepreneur established the F. X. Perira and Sons (Travancore) Pvt. Ltd, the forerunner to KMML. During the course of time, KMML changed hands three times over. In 1956 it was taken over by the state government and was placed under the control of the industries department. The unit was subsequently converted as a limited company in 1972 by the name of ‘The Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd.’ The construction of Titanium Dioxide Pigment using chloride technology
started in 1979. The same was commissioned in 1984. “KMML is the world’s only fully integrated Titanium Dioxide pigment manufacturer. The company has a production capacity of 40,000 metric tons. The year 2008-09 is a golden year for KMML. The turn over of the company moved up to Rs. 464 crore and registered a quantum growth of 33%. The profit before tax for the year is Rs. 31 crore. We have managed our operation by producing 35518 MT of pigment and marketing 38465 MT of pigment to achieve this profit. This production and sale figures are highest in the history of KMML,” said K.S.Sreenivas I.A.S, Managing Director, KMML. During October, 2008 the Government of Kerala sanctioned 3 major cost reduction projects for implementation. These are Projects for separation of Minerals at an estimate cost of Rs. 21 crores; Capacity Augmentation of Synthetic Rutile Plant at an estimate cost of 32 crores and Fuel conversion system at an estimate cost of Rs. 44 cores. KMML is also setting up a Titanium Sponge Plant with an installed capacity of 500 Tons per Year (TPY) which later will be expanded to 1000 TPY. “The plant will utilize technology developed by the Defense Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad (DMRL). The plant will be first of its kind in the country and on commissioning, India will be the seventh nation attaining capability to produce Titanium Metal. The project is expected to cost Rs. 145 crores and is fully funded by ISRO,” said Sreenivas. The construction activity of the new plant is in full swing. Orders for all major machinery have been placed. Installation of machinery will commence by mid September 2009. Commissioning trails are scheduled for Dec
K.S.Sreenivas I.A.S, MD, KMML
2009 and the plant is scheduled to start commercial production by June 2010. “Now the present project on Titanium Sponge is to go one step ahead from Titanium Dioxide to Titanium Sponge. The next step would be to make Titanium as a metal. We are right now catering to the interest of the domestic market. Understanding that Titanium Sponge has huge demand, world over, the government of Kerala is planning to setup 10,000 tons plant in association with Russia. Of course it is just in the initial stage. If the plant is realized, then out of the 10,000-tons of sponge, about 75-80% would be exported,” said Sreenivas. KMML is also coming out with a power project using the cogeneration method. The company is looking at a 20 MW capacity cogeneration plant in a year or so. KMML is in the process of producing nano titanium dioxide pigment. Its research and development department have completed preliminary work on the same and a pilot plant is being set up for the production of nano pigment.
VISAKA INDUSTRIES WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1981 TO MANUFACTURE CORRUGATED CEMENT FIBER SHEETS. WITH THE INITIAL PRODUCTION CAPACITY OF
36,000 TONS PER YEAR, THE FIRST FACTORY IN PATANCHERU, ANDHRA PRADESH COMMENCED COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION OF CEMENT SHEETS IN
1985. THE COMPANY DIVERSIFIED INTO TEXTILE YARN MANUFACTURING IN
1992. SINCE
THEN THERE HAS BEEN
NO LOOKING BACK.
Incorporated as Visaka Asbestos Cement Products Limited in the year 1981, Dr.G.Vivekanand, an MBBS graduate was clear in his pursuit. Understanding his lack of experience in the business, he focused on getting the most proficient professionals in the field onboard. “He got in various professionals in different disciplines based on their experience. He remained the Joint Managing Director of the company while a professional head was the MD initially,” says G. Saroja Vivekanand, Joint MD, Visaka Industries. The company started as an asbestos cement sheet company. The first plant commenced production on 1st April 1985, and the first full year of production was January 1986 to December 1986, the calendar year at that time. In the first full year of production, the company made profits and declared dividend. At a time when Andhra Pradesh’s reputation among banks was that of a
bad paymaster as many companies took loans, floated companies and then went sick, few companies were successful. “It was mainly because of Dr Vivekanand’s foresight and his seriousness towards running the company on a long terms basis that Visaka could successfully wade through the storm. In due course of time, he got a hang of the business and became the MD in 1989. But unfortunately at that time further license for future expansion was difficult as the industry was not giving new licenses. So we had to look for other alternatives. In the quest for further growth, Cement was too big to handle as our turnover was about Rs 10-15 crores. The other core sector that looked prospective was yarn. In 1990, the company changed its name from Visaka Asbestos Cement Products Limited to Visaka Industries because we were getting into the yarn business and the company name had to adequately reflect that we were not just in Asbestos, but were in other businesses also,” said Saroja. For the last 25 years, Visaka has been steadily growing and has been consistently paying dividends to its share holders. Visaka has been prompt in repaying its debts to all the banks. Visaka continues its corporate social responsibility and provides health, water and education to the under-privileged. When the company entered spinning, it did not go for the conventional ring spinning model, but went for the latest technology, and at that time in India nobody had entered into Twin Air Jet technology. The company entered the twin air jet technology and all the machines were imported from Japan. 1992-93 was the first full year of spinning operation and that was the only year when we made loss due to
G. Saroja Vivekanand, Joint MD, Visaka Industries
devaluation of currency in 1991, which effected us. 1992-93 and the subsequent year was the only time when we could not declare dividends, but after these two years, the company has been continuously declaring dividends. In 1985-86, the company was 7th in the industry in terms of overall capacity; today it is 2nd after Hyderabad Industries Limited. The company operates in 15 states in terms of sales and about 6 states in terms of manufacturing presence viz., AP, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. “The idea is that if you put up a plant, you should be able to sell its production within a radius of 300500 kms because the transportation cost in terms of percentage of turnover constitute about 10% of the turnover. So if you make 1 rupee of sale, the transport cost will be 10 paise. So it becomes a key element,” said Saroja. In 1988, the turnover of the company was Rs 10 cores, which has grown to Rs 550 crores in 2008-09. The company is looking at Rs 600 crores turnover in 2009-10.