Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) is a Miniratna Government of India Enterprise having its Head Office in Bangalore; it has Pelletisation and Pig Iron plant units in Mangalore. The Company wa
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s established in 1976 as 100% Export Oriented Unit to develop the mine and plant facilities. The Company is primarily engaged in the business of Iron Ore Mining, Beneficiation and Production of high quality Pellets. It has diversified into Operation and Maintenance Services and Mineral exploration pertaining to various expertise.
The mine and plant facilities were commissioned in 1980 and the first shipment of concentrate was made in October 1981. A pelletisation plant with a capacity of 3 million tonnes per year was commissioned in 1987 for production of high quality blast furnace and direct reduction grade pellets for export. A 110 km road through ghats was built, and a slurry pipeline to Mangalore Port was completed and delivered on time, within the estimated cost of US$ 630 million.
The company entered into Joint Venture with MECON & MSTC in order to set up a Pig Iron & Ductile Iron Spun Pipe Plant at Mangalore. For this purpose a separate company-Kudremukh Iron & Steel Company was set up. The complex was set up in Baikampady Industrial area in Mangalore and has a blast furnace capacity of 350 cu. mtrs to manufacture 227,000 tonnes of high grade pig iron per annum with low phosphorous and low sulphur conten using quality pellets from KIOCL's pelletisation plant. The production of pig iron was commenced during 2001-02.
KIOCL has obtained ISO 14000 certification for its environmental compliance. The company has applied to Government of Karnataka for grant of Mining Lease in the Chikkanayakanahalli area of Tumkur District and also Chiria area of Singhbhum District of Jharkhand. Since there is a low quality reserve in that area, the company has decided not to pursue with the project.
It is also in the proposal of setting up a Coke Over plant with a capacity of 30 MW at Mangalore next to its Blast Furnace as Backward integration and import substitution.
In pursuance to SEBI Circular dated 22 May 2014 and 17 April 2015 relating to de-recognition of Regional Stock Exchanges, outlining the roadmap for Companies listed exclusively on such Regional Stock Exchanges, the Company opted for listing on a national level stock exchange and promptly got its equity shares listed with Metropolitan Stock Exchange of India in 2015-16. As a step forward, to enhance further visibility in the market, the Board of Directors in their 238th meeting held in April 2016, approved listing of Equity Shares with National Stock Exchange. The Company thereafter applied for and got listed in National Stock Exchange w.e.f. 29 November 2016 under stock code KIOCL'.
A MoU was signed among KIOCL, APMDC and RINL on June 22, 2013 at Hyderabad for exploration and mining of Nemakal iron ore deposit in Ananthapuram District, Andhra Pradesh. Subsequently, Govt. of AP issued notification dated 30 November 2015 reserving an area over an extent of 1327 hectares for Iron Ore in Minchery R.F. of
Kalyandurg Range in Ananthapuram District in favour of M/s A.P.Mineral Development Corporation Limited (APMDC) under Section 17A(2) of the Mines and Minerals (D&R) Act, 1957. APMDC submitted proposal to PCCF, Govt. of Andhra Pradesh for seeking permission to carry out exploratory drilling (20 holes) in the aforesaid area. DGPS survey to demarcate the drilling area is under progress. On receiving the forest clearance for exploratory drilling, work will be undertaken jointly by KIOCL and APMDC. TEFR for the setting up of beneficiation plant and pellet plant will be prepared based on the outcome of the exploratory drilling.
The Company entered into MoU on 8 January 2016 for setting up Joint Venture with West Bengal Mineral Development and Trading Cooperation (WBMDTCL) for exploration and development of iron ore mines and for other minerals in the State of West Bengal. WBMDTCL and the Company will form Joint Venture Company in 51:49 equity. The Company and WBMDTCL to jointly identify an iron ore blocks to put up proposal to State Govt. for reservation of iron ore blocks in favor of JV Company. The Company appointed Consultant for preparation of Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) and other documents and incorporation of JV Company. Joint discussions were held in the month of April 2017 among WBMDTCL, the Company and Consultant. JVA is under finalization for incorporation of the company with due approvals. Ministry of Mines, Govt. of India notified the Company as Mineral Exploration Entity on February 16, 2015 under second proviso of sub-section (1) of Section 4 of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957. This will facilitate the Company to take up prospecting and exploration works of various minerals across the Country. Ministry of Mines allotted two Nos. G4 stages of mineral investigation blocks to the Company. The blocks were allotted to the Company on September 12, 2016 during the meeting held under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Mines, GoI for allocation of exploration blocks to PSUs. The blocks includes, investigation of Iron Ore over an area of 100 Sq. Kms at Tirumankaradu region of Tiruppur District in Tamilnadu State and investigation of Gold and associated minerals over an area of 202 Sq. Kms at Udbur region of Mysore District in Karnataka State. The work plans of both the blocks allotted to the Company is technically approved in the 6th National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET) Technical Committee meeting, which was held on 2nd and 3rd December 2016. The financial proposals of both the blocks were also approved in the 4th NMET Executive Committee meeting, which was held on February 21, 2017 under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Mines, GoI. The exploration works of both the allotted blocks will be taken up soon by the Company as per the directions of NMET and the same will add up to the profitability and would demonstrate the expertise of the Company in the field of mineral exploration.
The Board, at its meeting held on May 22, 2018 approved the Techno Economic Feasibility Report for forward and backward integration projects at Blast Furnace Unit Mangalore at an estimated project cost of Rs.843.90 crores.
The Board, at its meeting held on 22 May 2018 approved the Techno Economic Feasibility Report for setting up of 2 MTPA pellet plant project on Joint Venture basis with M/s. Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited at their premises at Vishakhapatnam, which involved capital investment of Rs.996 crores.
The company signed a MoU with MECON on 8 January 2018, a sister CPSU under Ministry of Steel to participate in tenders, bids and Contracts related to Engineering / EPC / Turnkey /BOO/BOT/BOOT basis for new installation or upgrading/revamping, repair of Bene ciation and Pelletisation Plants & coal washery plants.
KIOCL's Board on 13th November, 2018 approved the project for setting up of 1.80 Lakh TPA capacity Non-Recovery Coke Oven Plant and 2 Lakh TPA capacity Ductile Iron Spun Pipe (DISP) project as backward and forward integration project at the existing Blast Furnace Unit of KIOCL at Mangaluru. It envisaged for setting up of 5 MW Captive Solar Plant in Mangaluru to reduce cost of power of
pellet production. It engaged M/s Aishwaryagiri Construction Pvt Ltd., Bengaluru as EPC contactor (Engineering, Procurement and Construction Contractor) for setting up of 5.0 MWac (6.5 MWp) Captive Solar Power Plant in Karnataka.
During Financial Year 2019-20, Company handled 13 Mineral Exploration Projects with cumulative project having total approved cost of Rs. 127,89,93,379/-. It commissioned Operation & Maintenance of NMDC's 1.89 mtpa Beneficiation Plant and 1.2 mtpa Pellet Plant at Donimalai, Karnataka. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had approved the disinvestment of 15% Equity Shares of Company by Follow-on Public Offer (FPO). Accordingly, the Board of the Company at its Meeting held on 06 August 2019, approved disinvestment of 15% of Paid-up Equity Share Capital of the Company by Government of India through FPO.
During the year 2020-21, Company had signed a MoU with M/s RINL Visakhapatnam for setting up a 2 MTPA capacity Pellet Plant at RINL premises, Visakhapatnam on Joint Venture Basis, which was approved by the Board. It had entered into a MoU with M/s SAIL for exploring the Techno-economic feasibility for consideration of setting up of pellet plant under a Joint Venture (JV). It completed the Mineral Exploration Project of Udbur Gold Block, Mysore (District), Karnataka: G4 level ME works for Gold & Associated elements (NICKEL PHASE); Neerbudhihal Limestone & Dolomite Blocks (East & West), Bagalkote, Karnataka (02 Blocks): G4 level ME works for limestone and dolomite; and Reddipalayam Amalgamated Limestone Block, Ariyalur (Tq & Dist), Tamil Nadu: G2 level ME works for limestone and received the Sanction Order for carrying out G4 level of ME works for Kyanite in Kallahalli Kyanite Block, Mysore (Dist), Karnataka with project approved costing Rs. 1.92 Crores.
During year 2021-22, Company carried out Mineral Exploration works of base metals by securing 2 base metal projects from NMET, Ministry of Mines, Govt of India. 14 numbers of Projects with cumulative project cost of Rs. 122.68 crores (including GST) were handled, including Detailed Geological Mapping works at Devadari Iron Ore Block (captive mine). Mineral Exploration Laboratory established at BFU, Mangalore acquired NABL (National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories) on 13th April, 2022. It sold Pellets to the non-Chinese steel Mills in Oman, Brazil, Malaysia, Bahrain, South Korea, Indonesia, Austria, Finland, Romania and Poland. The Company had envisaged for setting up of 1.8 Lakh TPA capacity of Coke Oven plant with waste recovery Power Generation Plant under back ward integration and 2 Lakh TPA capacity Ductile Iron Spun pipe (DISP) project under forward integration projects of existing
Blast Furnace Unit of KIOCL Ltd, Mangaluru and approved the project which costed Rs. 836.90 Crores. It commissioned 5 MW Solar Power Plant at Tumkur Dist. Karnataka and total 77,17,200 kWh energy units were generated during the year and was wheeled to Pellet Plant Unit for captive consumption resulting into total savings of Rs. 4.94 Crores. It has installed 1000 tph capacity barrel type blender reclaimer with associated civil and structural works, electrics, instrumentation & control etc.
In 2022-23, a total of 19 number of Mineral Exploration Projects for NMET, Govt. of Karnataka and M/s JSW Steel Limited with cumulative approved project value of Rs 134.95 Crores were handled during the year. Additionally, Mineral Exploration works of Devadari Iron Ore Block (captive mine block) with approved project value of Rs 24.86 Crores (including GST) was also handled. The Company got into regime of providing mineral exploration services to private agencies by securing 5 number of Iron Ore Mine Lease Projects from Lease (for assessment of BHQ / silicious ore) Projects from M/s JSW Steel Limited, Tornagallu, Bellary, Karnataka with Order value Rs 12.27 Crores. It carried out G4 level of Mineral Exploration for basemetal minerals in Anaji Basemetal Block, Obalapura Basemetal Block, Chitradurga (Dist.), Karnataka and kyanite mineral in Kallahalli Kyanite Block, Mysore (Dist.), Karnataka. It completed G3 level of ME works in HR Gaviyappa Amalgamated Iron Ore Block.
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