MOIL must make significant contribution to Make in India by developing technology to meet Manganese requirement of batteries to be used in Electric Vehicles etc., said Steel Minister Shri Birender Singh while chairing mid-year review meeting of MOIL, a PSU under Ministry of Steel. The Minister asked the PSU to plan for building capacities in tungsten mining and production for strengthening manufacturing capabilities for defense production in India. The meeting was attended by Secretary, Steel Dr. Aruna Sharma, senior officials from Ministry of Steel and top management of MOIL.
Shri Singh further said, “MOIL should strategically plan for forward integration to leverage its leadership position of Manganese Ore production in India. The company can think of acquiring or taking majority stake in ferro-alloy production facilities, in addition to expansion efforts. There is huge potential for e-rickshaws, e-tempos and e-cars in India, which MOIL must be prepared for harnessing. In fact, the company should innovate to find new uses of Manganese Ore, apart from steel making, dry cell batteries and paints. R&D efforts should aim for development of new technologies rather than updating or buying technologies from others. The company need to work on utilizing every grade of ore gainfully including the lowest quality ore. Steel Ministry will support every R&D initiative aimed at self-sufficiency and indigenisation. Mineral exploration activities need to be speeded up for strengthening the resource base in India.Shri Birender Singh added that MOIL can also examine the feasibility of using alternate modes of ore transportation, which could be environment friendly and cost effective. For closure of mines, sand requirement can be met by innovative means like collaboration with local farmers. MOIL should aim to become the industry leader in innovation and technology development to such a level that other companies from abroad look upto MOIL for technology support.
In view of increase in requirement for manganese for steel production capacities upto 300 million tonnes and insufficient availability of the ore in India, MOIL must also explore the possibility of acquiring or taking stake in manganese ore assets abroad the Minister said.