The Hindu Business Line : MMTC aims at Rs 30,000-cr turnover

MMTC, is all set to step up its turnover to Rs 30,000 crore by 2009-10. It posted a 66 per cent increase in the turnover for 2004-05 at Rs 15,100 crore against the previous fiscal.

Disclosing this to newspersons here, the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of MMTC, Mr S.D. Kapoor, said this ambitious turnover in the next five years would be achieved through a slew of measures including the setting up of trade-related infrastructure such as ports and acquiring its own rakes in moving bulk materials.

Besides, there is a proposal to establish six free trade warehouse zones and in expanding the MMTC-promoted Neelachal Ispat Nigam Ltd (NINL) plant's steel-making capacity.

He said the company which holds 51 per cent equity in NINL has decided to install about one million tonnes capacity steel-making facility at an investment of Rs 1,000 crore to produce wire rods, reinforcement bars billets, given the growing demand for long products.

Alongside, he said the company would develop iron-ore mine of two million tonnes capacity in Sundergarh/Keonjhar district of Orissa.

Mr Kapoor said that MMTC has not yet decided the funding mechanism for the expansion plans of NINL. Mr Kapoor said NINL's total sale exceeded Rs 100 crore and it earned a net profit of Rs 70 crore in the very first year of its integrated operations during 2004-05.

He said the proposed free trade warehousing zones would entail an investment of Rs 600 crore. He said that as the country was permanently in need of importing certain essential items such as rock phosphate, coking coal, diammonium phosphate, efforts would be made to secure production contracts abroad for ensuring their uninterrupted supply to India.

Giving the performance of MMTC in the fiscal year 2004-05, he said, while the country's export growth was 24 per cent, MMTC registered an increase of 62 per cent in its export.

Import business of MMTC, on the other hand, went up by over 65 per cent against the country's import growth rate of 34 per cent. He said while mineral export of MMTC was up by 79 per cent that of metal exports were up by 429 per cent last year. Similarly, coal and hydrocarbon imports of MMTC were up by 230 per cent last year, even as import of metals registered an increase of 33 per cent.

The company's domestic business exceeded Rs 1,050 crore which was also a record. He said sales of precious metals in the domestic market were up by eight times.

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