V. V. Mineral: Achievements and Recognitions

A practice to extract rare earth minerals through mining process from open pits, beaches, river beds etc. is known as sand mining. These rare earth minerals consist of 17 chemical elements. These rare earth minerals generally consist of elements like ilmenite, rutile, garnet, zircon, sillimanite, leucoxene and monazite. They are used in manufacturing consumer products and high tech applications.

Established in 1989, V. V. Mineral (VVM) is the largest manufacturer and exporter of rare earth minerals – ilmenite and granet. It is the first private ilmenite exporter in india. VVM have achieved noteworthy market share in Europe, the USA, Australia, East Asia and Middle East. VVM’s annual output is 7, 00,000 metric tonnes of heavy minerals, which includes garnet abrasive, ilmenite, zircon, rutile, sillimanite and leucoxene. VVM has been awarded with quite a number of awards. 

List of Achievements and Recognitions:

1.       CAPEXIL Top / SPECIAL EXPORT AWARD:

VVM has been awarded “Special Export Award” by the Government of India (Ministry of Commerce), CAPEXIL (Chemicals & Allied Products Export Promotion Council) consecutively for 21 years from 1990-1991 to 2009-2010 and VVM got “ Top Export Award” from CAPEXIL for the year 2010-11 and for the best export performance during the same year. This is yet another milestone of VVM History.

2.       INDIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AWARD

VVM has been receiving the Best Exporter Award from the INDIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY – TUTICORIN for the past 12 years since 2000 onwards.

3.       NATIONAL PRODUCTIVITY AWARD :

For the achievement of the highest productivity and quality - VVM got “National Productivity Award” from the National Productivity Council – New Delhi –presented by the then President of India Dr. K.R. Narayanan during the year 2000. This is one more feather in the cap of VVM.

4.        MADITSSIA AWARD

“MADITSSIA – VISVESWARAYA AWARD” has been awarded several times for the Best Organization and Industry in the Southern Districts of TAMILNADU.

5.       IMS ( Integrated Management System)

IMS Certificate from TUV Germany by getting ISO 9001:2008, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 in April 2011.

6.       Best Exporter Award from EPCES – Govt. of India.

Best Exporter Award from EPCES (Export Promotion Council for EOUs & SEZs) Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Govt. of India consecutively for the past three years for the highest volume of export in EOU.

CSR initiatives taken by VV Mineral

Established in 1989, V.V. Mineral is India's largest Manufacturer and Exporter of Garnet & Ilmenite. V. V. Mineral was founded by Mr. S.Vaikundarajan, Chairman and Managing Director. The company's selfless expression in every minute detail is revealed in their approach to issues involving social responsibility.

VV Mineral does a lot for the society, especially for the schools as a part of their CSR initiative

1. To collect the requirements from school and our localities

2. Order materials as per their requirements

3. Distribute all required things to schools and students.

4. Conduct medical camp in required villages and find out health issues of 

    Participants

5. Arrange further treatment in our health centre at free of cost.

a)      VVM’s CSR program will enhance the education level which will be useful for those parents who can't afford to educate their children. VVM distribute Notebooks every year by collecting the data’s from the localities and fulfil their requirements.

b)      Normally, the other company will give money to the needy /poor students to go to school. But many parents will use that money for their own purpose instead of sending the children to school. So VVM decided to buy notebooks & stationeries and give it to the needy students directly in school.

VV Mineral – a socially Responsible Organization

To begin with VVM had initially started with issuing free note books to the underprivileged and needy students in and around of processing plant area and other required areas too.

After the successful completion of this activity every year, VVM has done the following new projects as well subsequently in part of our corporate social responsibility

a)      Free medical camp in the villages

b)     Free medical treatment through our VV Health Centre

c)      Interest free loan to coastal village women to motivate them to start self group industry

d)     Construct compound wall to required school

e)      Free Land issued to construction of Water tank in Navalady village, Radhapuram Taluk

f)    Free Land issued to construction of Community Hall for conducting functions, events by village with free of cost.

g)      Free solar lamp provided to college students

h)     Free toilet facility provided to village people

It doesn’t end here. The company has given a ray of hope to a lot of children by sponsoring their education. It’s rare to see companies indulge in such activities and also doing it so humbly that the world is unaware of their good deeds. It’s organizations like these that make world a better place to be!

Rare Earth Minerals and its usage

A mineral that contains one or more rare earth elements as major metal constituents is known as Rare Earth Mineral or Rare Earth Elements (REE). These elements are a set of seventeen chemical elements. These rare earth elements occur together in the periodic table. These minerals are found in the earth’s crust and are extensively used in consumer products.

These minerals are further categorized into two types :

1. Light Rare Earth Minerals and

2. Heavy Rare Earth Minerals.

In India, VV Mineral is one of amongst the largest Manufacturer and Exporter of Garnet & Ilmenite. Globally, VV Mineral is poised to rise to the number one position. VV Mineral is the first private Ilmenite Exporter in India.

These minerals are used in manufacturing various consumer products i.e. Electronic Devices, Clean Technologies, Defence, Advanced Communications and Healthcare. Rare earth elements are crucial to maintaining our current lifestyle and economy as well as build a strong and sustainable future. 

Refer the infographic below for further details : 

V. V. Minerals Expands Operations To Odisha

V. V. Minerals is planning for excavation and refining of the mineral in Odisha. The investment of this project is estimated to be around Rs 100 crores.

V. V. Minerals is a Tamil Nadu-based mining firm having largest market share in ilmenite production and exports, and one of the largest Indian companies in the sand mining business.

“We are planning to apply for 2-3 areas in Odisha for excavating ilmenite and garnet. We will also invest Rs 75 crore to 100 crore for establishing a mineral refining plant in the state,” said V Subramaniun, director of the firm. VVM is the first private exporter of ilmenite and is the leading manufacturer and exporter of the mineral.

 “Production of ilmenite has been slow in India due to tough regulations and limited awareness about it. The government must change its position on the mineral,” added Subramaniun.

“Along with the tough regulations, the processing of lease grant should be made faster if we want to tap its potential because apart from exports, the mineral will be in huge demand from domestic market in future,” said the V. V. Mineral official.

Ilmenite is upgraded to titanium dioxide to be used in consumer goods like paper, plastic, paint colour and cosmetic industries such as sunscreen. The proposal of V. V. Minerals is strategically important as Kolkata-based Saraf Agencies Private Ltd (SAPL) is constructing a titanium slag plant near Gopalpur with an investment of Rs 250 crore. These plants use ilmenite as feedstock.      

Taxes leading to reduced GDP from mining: Sanjay Pattnaik

At the annual general meeting of Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI), Sanjay Pattnaik, Executive Director of Tata Sponge Iron (TSIL), was elected as the national president of the body.

An excerpt from his interview in the meeting:

What are the challenges before the industry?

Mining involves numerous stakeholders, and hence, its revival depends on strong coordination not only between miners and the government, but also among the state and central governments.

Foremost of all, the annual cap of 30 MT imposed by the Supreme Court needs to be removed to allow the industry to grow.

India has the highest tax rates on minerals in the world. Effective tax-rate, the ratio of value of all amounts paid to the government to value of profits before taxes, is approximately 69% for operating mines in India compared to resource-rich nations like Canada (34%), Australia (40%), and South Africa (40%).

In addition to royalty, miners have to make several other payments such as DMF (30% on royalty for existing mines and 10% on royalty for auctioned mines), NMET-National Mineral Exploration Trust (2% on royalty), service tax (15% on royalty), sales tax, environment and forest levies, and other cess/taxes by local institutions, panchayats, etc.

These taxes make the domestic raw materials costly and unviable for manufacturing, leading to imports and reduced GDP from mining.

In another interview with the beach mining tycoon, Vaikundarajan, the MD and CEO of the largest beach mining company in India - V. V. Minerals, he had echoed the same thoughts. Obviously, even the beach and sand mining companies face the same issues with the policies of the government.