India Mining Industry

India mining industry covers exploration of new minerals and mines, production of mineral resources from various mines in india, processing of the mineral ores like iron ore, bauxite ore, manganese ore etc. to obtain the more useful forms like iron, steel, Aluminium, manganese, etc., extraction of coal, gold, diamond etc. and economic matters of the india industry of mineral ore mining, the governmental mining policy, regulatory acts and laws, mining infrastructure of india, small-scale and mass mining projects, impact of mining jobs on the environment and other community issues.

Overview of Mining Industry in India
The mining industry in India includes both metallurgical and mineral mining industries in India and together they form the backbone of the industrial development of India as they provide the basic raw materials like coal, petrol, mining minerals, steel, copper, Aluminium metals etc. to the India manufacturers.

History of Mining in India:
Mining in India is over 6000 years old. The oldest mines in India include lead-zinc mineral deposits at Zawar, copper deposits at Khetri, and gold deposits in Karnataka. The mining techniques used back then were much ahead of their time specially the smelting techniques. A timeless example of the mastery of the old times craftsmen is the Iron Pillar in the Qutab Minar complex in New Delhi.

Mining Products in India
India mining products include a total of 84 minerals consisting of 4 fuels, 49 non-metallic industrial minerals, 11 metallic minerals, and 20 minor minerals. These mined products include: Aluminium, coal, cobalt, copper, chromium, diamond, gold, iron ore, lead, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, oil sands, palladium, platinum, silver, tantalum, tin, titanium, tungsten, uranium, vanadium, zinc, etc.

Location of Mining Sources or Mines in India

Petroleum: Bombay High Field, Gujarat and Assam
Coal: Tamil Nadu, Chhatisgarh, Maharashtra, Orissa, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh
Iron Ore: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan etc.
Diamonds: Panna Mines in Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Orissa
Gold & silver: Kolar fields in Karnataka, Dona block in Andhra Pradesh, Bansawar district Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
Bauxite: Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Bihar
Chromite: Byrapur, Karnataka, Boula, Kathpal, and Orissa
Copper Ore: Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Sikkim
Granite: Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh etc.
Lead and Zinc Ore: Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh
Manganese Ore: Madhya Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, West Bengal and Karnataka

Role of India Government:
The government of India has different ministries for coal & mines, iron & steel, chemicals & fertilizers industry, atomic energy, petroleum &natural gas, environment & forests and labor industry. The survey and exploration of all minerals except petroleum, natural gas & atomic minerals. The mining industry is the responsibility of the ministry of mines (MoM) India. They device the mining policy and strategy for non-ferrous metals (Aluminium, Copper, Zinc, Gold, Nickel etc.) mining jobs.
The sub-ordinate organizations of the ministry of mines include:

Geological Survey of India (GSI): It conducts scientific surveys and research to locate mineral resources. GSI makes all the mining maps in India and also provides mines and mineral resources maps based on the research they do.

Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM): IBM is responsible for compilation of the mining exploration data and mineral maps for providing complete info on the new mines and fields in India. All the statistical information on mining industry in India - the mines, minerals, metals and the mineral based industries are available with the Indian Bureau of Mines.

India's contribution in the mineral production in world:

1. India is leading producer of mica blocks and mica splitting.
2. Third largest Chromite producer in the world.
3. Third in production of coal, lignite and barites .
4. Fourth largest iron ore producer.
5. Sixth largest bauxite and manganese ore producer.
6. Tenth position in Aluminium .
7. Eleventh position in crude steel production in the world.

Revised FDI ceilings for six sectors notified

More than a month after the Cabinet cleared the foreign direct investment (FDI) review proposal easing FDI norms in various sectors, the government on Wednesday notified the revised ceilings of foreign investment in six sectors. However, there is no mention in the norms of the proposal to relax the mandatory three-year lock-in period for foreign institutional investors in real estate as stated in the announcement made by the department of industrial policy & promotion following Cabinet clearance. According to sources, the finance ministry has rejected the proposal to allow foreign institutional investment in pre-IPO placements of Indian realty companies. This will mar the hopes of real estate companies eyeing funds through this route, as they are already hemmed in by rising home loan rates, and curbs on external commercial borrowing and issuing of convertible preferential shares. The notification contains liberalised FDI norms for six sectors. Apart from allowing 74% FDI in charters and cargo services, the government has allowed 100% FDI in helicopters, flight training institutes, ground handling and technical training through the automatic route. However, the eased guidelines have come with a rider. No foreign airline will be allowed to pick up equity, even indirectly, in air transport services, which will be defined for the first time. The second press note in 2008 waives the 26% divestment clause in the petroleum market and hikes FDI ceiling in PSU refineries to 49%. The third allows 49% foreign investment in commodity exchanges. Here, a single foreign investor cannot own more than 5%. The fourth press note deals with clearance of 49% FDI in credit information companies and scrapping of credit reference agencies from the list of non-banking finance company activities permitted for FDI. Press note 5 of 2008 allows 100% FDI in titanium mining, apart from specifying that no FDI is permitted in atomic minerals. The conditions for 100% FDI in industrial parts have been laid down through press note 6. Review of the FDI policy faced roadblocks since the beginning of 2007 due to strong opposition, especially from the Left, against allowing FDI in retail. The government had to finally exclude the sector from the review. Similarly, the move to hike FDI ceiling in insurance has also been kept on hold.

Feb budget gap balloons to record $175.56 bn

The U.S. government turned in a $175.56 billion budget deficit for February, a record for any month, as federal spending grew but a slowing economy caused receipts to fall 12.1 percent from a year earlier, the U.S. Treasury said on Wednesday.

The February deficit soundly beat the previous all-time single-month deficit of $119.99 billion in February 2007 and also exceeded Wall Street economists' consensus estimate of a $160.0 billion deficit in a Reuters poll.

February receipts fell to $105.72 billion from $120.31 billion in February 2007, the Treasury said as both corporate and individual income tax payments slowed.
February outlays grew to $281.29 billion, a record for February, from $240.30 billion in February 2007, the Treasury said.

Alok acquires 50% of Ashford

Textile firm Alok Industries has picked up a 50 per cent stake in Ashford Infotech Ltd through its wholly owned subsidiary Alok Infrastructure. Ashford Infotech is part of the UK-based Ashford group.
Ashford Infotech recently acquired Ceat Ltd’s 6.92-acre land at Bhandup, Mumbai, for around Rs 130 crore. The company will develop the land jointly with Alok Industries.
“We are still doing a feasibility study. We will primarily look at commercial development on the land. We wanted to go into such a project with a partner who has enough domain expertise in the field, which is why we entered into this joint venture with Ashford Infotech,” said Sunil . Khandelwal, chief financial officer of Alok Industries.
The company plans to raise Rs 600 crore by diluting a 20 per cent stake in Alok Infrastructure to a private equity player.
The company wants to use the money to expand its realty business in the country.
Alok Industries posted a 16.49 per cent rise in its net profit at Rs 43.17 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2007, compared with Rs 37.06 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.
Net sales rose 14.76 per cent to Rs 550.78 crore from Rs 479.92 crore in the year-ago period.
Exports during the quarter grew 61.90 per cent to Rs 251.41 crore from Rs 155.29 crore.
Tyre manufacturer Ceat Ltd is the flagship company of Rs 13,500-crore RPG Group.
According to reports, the proceeds of the sale will help in the expansion of the company.
The transaction will not affect Ceat’s existing tyre manufacturing operations or its employees.
The company’s ongoing operations will continue on the 24-acre land it has near Bhandup.

Uco to tap institutions for Rs 300 cr

Uco Bank today decided to raise between Rs 300 crore and Rs 325 crore by the end of this month by issuing perpetual non-cumulative preference shares to institutional investors.
The bank needs to augment its net owned capital to comply with Basel II norms from April this year and support business growth.
While a dividend is paid every year to preference shareholders, it does not become the first claim in perpetual non-cumulative preference shares.
Uco Bank has already proposed a capital restructuring plan, under which it wanted to convert part of the government’s Rs 600-crore equity (74.98 per cent) into preference shares and then come up with a follow-on public issue.
The government, however, is yet to give its final approval to the proposal, which prevents the bank from entering the capital market
“We are not pursuing the proposed public issue right now. The delay in the government decision and the current stock market conditions are not conducive for the issue. Therefore, we have decided to raise capital through perpetual non-cumulative preference shares, for which we have got shareholders’ approval at an extraordinary general meeting today,” said S.K. Goel, chairman and managing director of Uco Bank.
Goel said the bank had a headroom to raise Rs 625 crore through perpetual non-cumulative preference shares.
“Shareholders have unanimously approved mobilising the entire amount. However, we have decided to mop up between Rs 300 crore and Rs 325 crore before the end of this month,” Goel said.
“Earlier we considered saving this instrument for the future and launch a follow-on public offering to meet our capital requirement,” Goel said. But under the current situation, the bank reversed its position by putting its second public issue on hold until the stock markets stabilised.
The bank will raise only Rs 325 crore through perpetual non-cumulative preference shares because it plans to issue the remaining Rs 300-crore preference shares to the government once the government approves the bank’s capital restructuring plan.
Under the plan, the bank had proposed to convert Rs 300 crore of the government’s equity into preference shares.
Although the Reserve Bank of India approved the use of perpetual non-cumulative preference shares to expand the Tier I capital of banks, it announced a final guideline to raise money through this instrument in October last year.
The money raised through perpetual non-cumulative preference shares will raise Uco’s capital adequacy (Basel II compliant) ratio to around 11 per cent from 10.33 per cent as at the end of December 2007.

Stage set for 49% FDI in refineries

The government has issued a formal notification to raise the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in public sector refineries to 49 per cent.
In January, the cabinet had raised FDI in public sector oil refineries to 49 per cent from 26 per cent, but a formal notification was issued only today.
The department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) issued a press note saying, “It has been decided to allow FDI up to 49 per cent, with prior approval of Foreign Investment Promotion Board, in petroleum refining by PSUs without involving any divestment or dilution of domestic equity in the existing PSUs.”
Besides, the condition of compulsory divestment of up to 26 per cent by foreign companies involved in trading and marketing of petroleum products has been deleted.
The government has allowed 100 per cent FDI in the trading and marketing of petroleum products with a condition that 26 per cent foreign equity be divested in favour of an Indian partner or the Indian public within five years.
The biggest beneficiary of the decision will be the BG group of the UK, which had been resisting divestment of its stake in Mahanagar Gas Ltd.

Civil aviation
FDI limits in the domestic civil aviation sector have also been raised.
According to the guidelines, 100 per cent FDI would be allowed under the automatic route for greenfield projects, while in existing projects, FDI up to 100 per cent would be allowed with prior government approval for FDI beyond 74 per cent.
No foreign airlines will be allowed to participate in the equity of an air transport undertaking engaged in operating scheduled, non-scheduled and chartered airlines. However, they will be allowed to participate in the equity of companies operating cargo airlines, helicopter and seaplane services.

Commodity exchange
Investment by registered foreign institutional investors in commodity exchanges, under the portfolio investment scheme and the FDI scheme will be limited to 23 per cent and 26 per cent, respectively.
“With a view to infuse globally acceptable best practices, modern management skills and latest technology, it has been decided to allow foreign investment in commodity exchanges,” the DIPP said in a statement.

TODAY'S MARKET

GLOBAL MARKETS ARE IN RED; CRUDE TOUCHED $110 ALSO GAS PRICE FOLLOWING THE TREND;
NIFTY WILL OPEN IN GAP DOWN NOTE;
NIFTY LEVEL FOR THE DAY IS 4620-4650-4700-4800-4850.
IF MARKET TAKE SUPPORT AT 4700 LEVEL BUY WITH A S L OF 4650 FINAL SL WILL BE FOR ALL LONG IS 4620.

HAVE A NICE TRADING DAY ..............

-BY MR. SAM