Displaying items by tag: India

India: Following the start of India's coal mine auction on 14 February 2015, in which Reliance Cement won the Sial Ghoghri mine in Madhya Pradesh for US$22.5/t, more mines have now been sold.

On the second day of the auction, 15 February 2015, Reliance Cement lost out on a mine in Maharashtra to Sunflag Iron and Steel, which bid US$28.7/t. Similarly, Aditya Birla Group's Hindalco Industries, which bid US$45.9/t for the Kathautia mine in Jharkhand, beat UltraTech Cement. The mine has 26Mt of coal reserves.

On the third day of the auction, 16 February 2015, Jaiprakash Associates won the Mandla North mine, which has 143Mt of extractable coal reserves, for US$40.3/t. UltraTech Cement and Hindalco Ltd had also placed bids for the mine. B S Ispat won the Marki Mangli III mine in Maharashtra for US$14.7/t, beating several rivals, including JSW Cement. The mine has 4.2Mt of extractable reserves.

India: The first of India's coal mines were auctioned on 14 February 2015. Reliance Cement won one mine for US$128m. Reliance Cement beat Hindustan Zinc and OCL Iron and Steel. The mine has 29.4Mt of total reserves and 5.69Mt of extractable reserves. The block had previously been allotted to Prism Cement earlier. Bidding for the first lot of mines will continue until 22 February 2015. Coal and Power Minister Piyush Goyal said that the money that the government will get from the auctions will be utilised for the development of the states.

India: JSW Energy, Reliance Cement and Ambuja Cement are among the 134 companies that have cleared the initial stages of coal auction for 21 blocks put up by the government. "Out of the 176 applications we received, 134 are found to be technically valid," said Coal secretary Anil Swarup.

The government had initially planned to auction 23 mines in the first round, but has put on hold bidding for two mines due to litigations. Of the 134 bids that are technically qualified, 12 are for the Gare Palma IV/7 coal mine in Chhattisgarh, making it the most sought after mine. Jaiprakash Associates and UltraTech Cement are among the 12 bidders. The Amelia (North) block and Bicharpur mines, both in Madhya Pradesh, have 10 bidders each.

Swarup said that the Ministry will go ahead with the auction of mines as per the schedule, though there have some court cases as a consequence of which there have been some changes. "Consequent to an interim order of the High Court, the auction of two mines has been put on hold. These are the Gotitoria East and Gotitoria West mines," said Swarup. The Coal Ministry had put both of the blocks in the unregulated sector, but the Court had directed that they should be considered for regulated sector.

India: The India Cements has approved the transfer of Chennai Super Kings (CSK) to an exclusively-owned subsidiary called Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd. The decision came following the previous statement made by The India Cements on 6 February 2015 regarding reorganisation proposals relating to the subsidiary.

The transfer comes after a judgment made by the Supreme Court in January 2015, in which the controversial clause in the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) constitution that allowed members to have commercial interests in tournaments like the Indian Premier League (IPL) was struck down. As such, the BCCI's president N Srinivasan, who is also president of The India Cements, has been barred from contesting any polls of the board until he renounces the ownership of Chennai Super Kings.

The India Cements has completed the required documentation for the transfer and also informed the BSE that it would transfer its IPL team CSK to the new subsidiary, Chennai Super Kings Cricket Ltd (CSKC). After approving the demerger of CSK into a wholly-owned subsidiary of The India Cements on 26 September 2014, the board of directors had stated that the effective date of transfer will be 1 January 2015.

India: Prism Cement is planning a 4.4Mt/yr limestone mining project, which will include a 3Mt/yr capacity clinker plant and a 48MW coal-fired power plant, at the village of Kotapadu and Kalvatala in Kurnool District, Andhra Pradesh. About 6.63km2 has been acquired and the project awaits approval.

India: The India Cements Ltd has reported a net loss of US$1.87m for the quarter that ended on 31 December 2014 against a marginal profit of US$674 in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Total income from operations stood at US$167m for the quarter, up marginally from US$166m in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Vice chairman and managing director N Srinivasan said that the increased net plant realisation helped it to offset the cost increase and drop in sales volume. Consequently, earnings before interest, depreciation, tax and amortisation (EBIDTA) improved to US$26.2m compared to US$23.4m during the same period of the prior year quarter. Srinivasan said that cement demand in the south of India had been almost flat. In this context, he pointed to capacity utilisation, which stood at 56% in the third quarter of 2015, as against 63% in the same quarter of the previous year.

The board of directors of The India Cements also reappointed Rupa Gurunath as wholetime director for a further five years with effect from 5 March 2015, subject to necessary approvals.

India: JK group Chairman Gaur Hari Singhania died on 4 February 2015 following a heart attack. Singhania, aged 80 years, was also the President of J K Organisation and a Promoter Director of JK Cement Ltd since its inception in 1994. He is survived by a son, Yadupati Singhania.

Singhania held chairmanship in other companies including Jaykay Enterprises Ltd, JK Cotton Ltd and JK Traders Ltd. He also served as Chairman of Merchants of Uttar Pradesh, the Employers Association of Northern India. He was also the founder chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Stock Exchange and founder patron of Associated Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, he served as Director in various corporations, such as in Pradeshiya Industrial Investment Corporation of Uttar Pradesh, UP State Industrial Development Corporation and Uttar Pradesh State Sugar Corporation.

A sports lover, he was the chief patron of Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA). He also contributed to various universities and had opened a university at Udaipur, Rajasthan.

India: The B K Birla Group company Mangalam Cement has posted a US$386,116 loss for the third quarter of its 2015 fiscal year due to higher finance costs. This compared to a US$75,614 net profit in the October – December 2013 quarter. Mangalam Cement's board has also approved building a new grinding plant at Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, with a capacity of 500,000t/yr.

Mangalam Cement's total income rose to US$34.3m in the third quarter of its 2015 fiscal year, up from US$26m during the same period of 2013. Expenses also rose to US$34.2m from US$28.1m in the prior-year quarter. Mangalam Cement consumed raw materials worth US$6.59m, up from US$4.5m during the comparable quarter of 2013. Finance costs went up to US$1.71m in the October – December 2014 period, from US$371,637 in the same period of 2013.

India: HeidelbergCement India has reported a net loss of US$1.59m in the third quarter of its 2014 - 2015 financial year, which ended on 31 December 2014. This compares to a net loss of US$1.07m in the same period of 2013. Its total income rose by 16.6% year-on-year to US$67.8m in the October - December 2014 quarter. Heidelberg Cement India said that pursuant to the sale of the Raigad plant in Maharashtra, which came into effect on 3 January 2014, the result for the quarter is not comparable with the same period of 2013.

India: The Centre of Mining has decided to put 31 minerals under the control of state governments by scaling down their status from major to minor as part of a mining policy change, according to Mines minister Narendra Singh Tomar. This allows states to decide the mining lease of the minerals, which account for about 60% of the total leased area in the country.

The decentralised minerals include gypsum, quartz, chalk and china clay. The change in policy will let states decide the rate of royalty, contribution to the district mineral foundation, procedure for grant of mineral concessions and rules. The Mines Ministry will allow states' public sector undertakings to explore minerals in areas under their jurisdiction.

"It is an important step in fulfilling the minimum government, maximum governance motto of our government," said Tomar. "This is being done to devolve more power to the states and expedite the process of mineral development in the country." States cannot lease out major minerals such as coal and iron ore without mandatory clearances from central ministries. High revenue earners, coal and iron ore, retain their positions as major minerals even after the policy shift.

The decision to broaden the list of minor minerals should drastically shorten the lease approval process because the state would be dealing with all the paperwork. Production should also increase. However, India could be treading on a minefield of environmental degradation if adequate protection measures are not taken.