Rise all: Need a strong AM system
3D printing has a future — but India needs an integrated approach to keep pace with global manufacturing
File photo of the TEL factory in Katpadi , about 140 km from Chennai
Tamil Nadu Industrial Explosives Ltd (TEL), which was the only licensed State-owned explosive manufacturing unit in the country before mounting losses forced it to shut shop in September 2017, appears to have got a lifeline.
Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has evinced interest in reviving this State-owned ‘sick’ unit following its foray into the supply of explosives and detonators for the Defence, a State government official said.
On September 26, the Tamil Nadu government inked a memorandum of understanding with BEL, which will initially invest ₹50 crore in the the plant. “It is a win-win for both TEL and BEL. We will give TEL to BEL on a long-term lease. There is no plan of BEL taking over TEL,” he added.
The TEL unit at Katpadi is located on 700 acres in the Panamadangi Reserve Forest on the Vellore-Chittoor border, about 140 km from Chennai.
While 226 of the 300-odd employees who were rendered jobless were offered a Voluntary Retirement Scheme, the rest of the employees were redeployed in other State-owned companies such as Tamil Nadu Newsprint, Tamil Nadu Cements and SIDCO, said R. Ravi, a former employee of TEL and General Secretary of the Labour Progressive Front, which has been demanding that the State government settle the dues of TEL employees. The government has to give nearly Rs 4 lakh to each employee, he said.
In 2013-14, TEL recorded an all-time high revenue of Rs 45 crore. However, the company started making a loss after a stoppage in production of key products following poor sales, said Ravi.
“We will consider bringing back the employees deployed in other units back to TEL,” the State government official said.
Incorporated in February 1983 by the Tamilnadu Industrial Development Corporation, TEl manufactured NitroGlycerin based explosives in technical collaboration with Bofors Nobel Chematur, Sweden, and sub-collaboration with Dyno Industries, Norway. It manufactured 15,000 tonnes of NitroGlycerine (NG) explosives of small and large diameter in both gelatinous and powder forms, and 5 million metres detonating fuses with a German company, annually.
Its major customers included Coal India, Singareni Collieries and Neyveli Lignite.
Even as efforts are on to revive TEL, its former employees have approached the Madras High Court to settle their dues, said Ravi.
3D printing has a future — but India needs an integrated approach to keep pace with global manufacturing
Researchers at IIT Madras’s ‘Initiative for Biological Systems Engineering’ (IBSE) are poring over millions of ...
Social media influencers are flipping the rules by first getting followers and then launching products and ...
Paneer, once alien to the South, has found a lucrative market in Chennai
It might be luring for new entrants and the uninitiated to increase stake in the markets via derivatives. We ...
With commodity prices increasing, the beneficial effect of low input cost is waning
Both Sensex and Nifty 50 are range-bound and await further market direction; stay alert
If not done right, the results can be misinterpreted
After facing severe droughts for several years, farmers in western Maharashtra have turned the corner through ...
The protesting farmers’ act of planting saplings marks a high moment in the political practice of ahimsa
Varanasi’s craftspersons record short videos to share their unique skills with the world and revive their ...
A new book maps Uddhav Thackeray’s rise in family and politics, and his efforts to curate a different brand of ...
How can brands counter the trolling and activism they increasingly face on social media even as they need to ...
Why dairy giant Amul turned to its old ads during the lockdown
Winners and losers in the valuation rankings
Media and digital communications company Dentsu India expects a colossal rise in digital advertising in 2021.
Three years after its inception, compliance with GST procedures remains a headache for exporters, job workers ...
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives of companies are altering the prospects for wooden toys of ...
Aequs Aerospace to create space for large-scale manufacture of toys at Koppal
And it has every reason to smile. Covid-19 has triggered a consumer shift towards branded products as ...
Please Email the Editor