By IANS,
Kollam (Kerala) : State-run titanium dioxide producer Kerala Minerals and Metals Ltd (KMML) is all set to implement three cost-cutting projects that will bring down costs by Rs.600 million ($14.3 million).
Set up more than three decades ago near here, KMML achieved an all-time record production of 35,512 tonnes and record sales of 35,768 tonnes last fiscal.
The three projects worth Rs.1 billion have been cleared by the government, Industries Minister Elamaram Kareem told IANS.
“The order to this effect will come out next week and the money for the three projects will come from KMML. These projects will change the face of KMML,” Kareem said.
“We expect the current fiscal to see production touching 40,000 tonnes and profits to go up,” said KMML chairman and managing director A.K. Luke.
The three new projects include setting up a new equipment for extraction of minerals from the sea sand and a new boiler to replace the existing one which runs on furnace oil. The new boiler would use coal.
“The third one would produce synthetic rutile, a raw material for us. Currently we have to source a good portion of synthetic rutile from the open market,” Luke added.
KMML now exports around 20-25 percent of its production.