Local Industry Rendered Jobless Due To Ban On Mining, Says VV Mineral V Subramanian

The local industry has laid off many due to the ban on beach mineral mining in Tamil Nadu. The ban was imposed in August 2013 and has seriously affected the lifestyle of locals causing a loss to the exchequer.

"The local industry is nearly without job as a result of the ban that was effected in August last year. It has rendered joblessness to around 50,000 people including 15,000 of ours," V V Mineral's Managing Partner VV Mineral V Subramanian said. "The country is loosing forex amounting to at least Rs 10,000 crore a year," he claimed.

VV Mineral, a beach mining company founded in late 1980s, is country’s largest mining, manufacturer and exporter of garnet and ilmenite.

The ban resulted from complaints of illegal mining has affected nearly five coastal districts. An inquiry commission has been set up to look into the matter.

Beach mining from mineral sands is found only in coastal states such as Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Maharashtra. Sands contain minerals such as garnet, ilmenite, rutile, zircon and sillimanite which are used in varied areas such as aircraft and paper industries.

VV Minerals accounts to about 75% of beach mineral mining activity in the state of Tamil Nadu. The state itself contributes to around 85% of the country’s total exports of 6.5 lakh tonnes of garnet.

VV Mineral V Subramanian explains that the current state of beach mining is relenishable. “In the absence of mining, such minerals are being carried away by sea waves and as a result, Sri Lanka, located further down, is reaping rich benefit at the cost of Indian industry. The ban on mining is impacting Indian firms' reputation as trusted partners with customers overseas. It is causing an annual loss of around Rs 300 crore to the state exchequer as well," he said.

The reopening of the mines could attract some few hundred crore of investment in the sector in Tamil Nadu, he said, adding his own company is likely to invest Rs 300 crore for enhancing capacity of value addition in the existing facility.