The Hindu Business Line : KMML plans projects to cut production cost

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug. 13 The State-owned Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd (KMML), the leading manufacturer of rutile grade titanium dioxide in the country, has drawn up three projects that are designed to substantially bring down the cost of production.

All the three projects, estimated to cost a total of Rs 95 crore, have received in-principle clearance from the Public Enterprises Board, according to officials of the Industries Department.

The first project envisages modular extension of the synthetic rutile plant for capacity augmentation from 35,000 tonnes to 50,000 tonnes per year. The company’s production cost of synthetic rutile, an intermediate product and a raw material for the production of titanium dioxide, is Rs 1,300 to Rs 1,500 a tonne, while the market procurement price is Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,400 a tonne.

The Rs 30-crore project is expected to result in a saving of about Rs 20 crore for the company.

New plant

Another project in the pipeline is a new mineral separation plant for separation of valuable minerals such as zircon, rutile and illmenite from tailings (waste sand) from the existing mineral separation plant.

This will enhance the annual production capacity of zircon from 1,800 tonnes to 6,480 tonnes, rutile from 3,000 tonnes to 4,000 tonnes and illmenite from 50,000 tonnes to 63,000 tonnes.

The plant will incorporate new technology-based methods featuring specific machinery instead of the present indigenous manual methods. The company is expected to save costs to the extent of Rs 25 crore once the project is commissioned.

The company is also replacing furnace oil as the boiler fuel with coal or coke. It is pointed out that the cost of producing one tonne of steam using furnace oil is Rs 2,100, while it is less than Rs 1,000 with coal or coke, leading to a reduction in fuel expenses by more than 50 per cent. Besides, the price of furnace oil has almost doubled over the last few months.

The officials said that the total cost of Rs 95 crore would be funded from internal resources. The projects, expected to be completed between one year and 18 months, will help the company save about Rs 65 crore.

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