V V Mineral is the largest manufacture of minerals in India. We manufacture Ilmenite, Rutile and Zircon. Under the chairmanship of Mr. Vaikundarajan, VV Mineral has won various prestigious awards and recognition.
Despite all these confirmations, former principal scientist at Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute in Kochi raised his concerns by stating, “Indian Rare Earth Ltd (IREL), Manavalakurichi, uses the sand from the same area and produces thorium, so what happens to the monazite in the VV mines? Does the company follow the procedure recommended by the AERB?” Further allegations were added that the mining was operated without proper regulatory clearance.
VV Mineral was quick to address these allegations head on. “We have established a mineral separation plant and approached the AERB for a license, which is awaited.”
He further assured that the company has followed all norms and worked within the legal boundaries for over twenty years. All the allegations by IREL officials was thwarted as a setup to maim the company’s reputation. “No authority is ready to take action based on our complaint. Hence we approached the High Court,” said VV Minerals.
The sand mining activities have been temporarily suspended for now. Following this, VV Minerals has filed two writ petitions that are pending with the Madras High Court.
VV Mineral S Vaikundarajan has come under high scrutiny regarding the allegations made on his company, VV Minerals India, India's top exporter of industrial minerals garnet and ilmenite. A case of illegal mining has been issued on V. V. Minerals and the proceedings require the director of the company to be under probe all the time. VV Mineral Vaikundarajan, even after being a low-profile person himself, has been open to all the investigations.
Ashish Kumar, the collector of Tuticorin, had raised the issue of illegal mining which brought VV Minerals in the enquiry. Apparently, the collector had links with the competitors and he was transferred immediately.
Rumours have been heard that VV Mineral Vaikundarajan’s “closeness to power” is helping him get through the situation. Whereas, VV Mineral Vaikundarajan’s supporters claimed that these allegations have been a ruse by the competitors of V. V. Minerals. His rival businessman D Dhaya Devadas has gone to the extent of filing a case against him because Vaikundarajan, as Mr. Dhaya claims, openly admitted of bribing the officials.
VV Minerals has a huge annual output of 150,000 tonnes of garnet abrasives, 225,000 tonnes of ilmenite, 12,000 tonnes of zircon and 5,000 tonnes of rutile, which has been compromised due to the suspension orders on the operations since March 2010.
Despite being under pressure, Vaikundarajan has assured that the company has worked within legal boundaries for over two decades and the investigation result will be in his favor.
The state government has set up a special investigating team to probe into the matters concerning illegal beach mining allegations. It has been observed that the coastal population has shown little or no faith in the investigating team’s work. Following this, the members of Fishermen United Front have appealed for a CBI inquiry instead. The low faith shown by the Fishermen United Front in judiciary is yet unclear.
Founder of VV Minerals India has been accused of having political connections with CM Jayalalitha. It has also been rumored that VV Mineral Vaikundarajan has used his political connections to carry illegal mining activities. This, however, is not supported by any evidence as the company has assured they have carried all legal proceedings for beach mining activities.
Two former IAS officers have gone on the record to state that VV Minerals have been engaging in illegal beach sand mining in the southern districts. However, VV Mineral has played down such allegations and insisted that the investigating team’s report will be in favor of the company.
No conclusive evidence has been found to prove that the company is guilty of illegal activities. VV Mineral Vaikundarajan has stood firm by his company and assures that the operations are within legal boundaries. Meanwhile, several fishermen in the region have threatened to leave their houses.
VV Minerals India was founded in late 1980s and has been run under the tutelage of S Vaikundarajan. The founder publicly thwarted all allegations as a defamation plot by rival mining industries.
He further stated that the allegations have no credibility and the threats are uncalled for. “We have a complete faith in the judiciary and believe the investigation will do its job. We lend our complete support to the investigating team,” VV Minerals added.
The 10% export duty on heavy minerals seems to be having a grave impact on the mining sector. The industry officials have raised the concern and requested the Centre to withdraw the export duty.
“The government of India in the budget has imposed a 10 per cent export duty on sale of ilmenite and five per cent duty on upgraded ilmenite. This has already impacted us. We are already feeling the pinch of it in places like Karnataka and Gujarat,” said Mining Engineers Association of India National President Arjeth Bagchhi.
The mining industry is contributing about 2.5% of country’s GDP by employing over 50 lakh people. VV Mineral states that the Indian ilmenite was accepted only in China. “However, due to the export duty, China may look to South Africa for ilmenite,” VV Minerals.
Indian ilmenite is low grade which requires a huge capital to separate them for purity. What was $200 per tonne has now come to $100 per tonne of ilmenite. “At this rate, the mining industry will soon face a standstill and lot of people will find themselves jobless,” says VV Minerals India.
In the wake of export duty, South Africa may export its ilmenite to China due to its quality and price. This hampers the Indian company’s chances of competing globally.
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.
S Vaikundarajan established VV Minerals India, a beach sand mining company, in late 1980s. For the last two decades, the company has been operating under the leadership of Vaikundarajan and gone on to become the top company in the sector.
VV Mineral Mining extracts garnet and ilmenite to over 20 countries. The company’s claim of lack in technology in separating thorium from monazite was recently confirmed by Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB).
The company released a statement that it doesn’t process monazite that is automatically generate during the mineral separation process. However, former Former principal scientist at Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute in Kochi raised his concerns stating, ““Indian Rare Earth Ltd (IREL), Manavalakurichi, uses the sand from the same area and produces thorium, so what happens to the monazite in the VV mines? Does the company follow the procedure recommended by the AERB?” Rajendra Ratnoo, District Collector of Kanyakumari, added to the allegations that VV Minerals has been mining without proper regulatory clearance.
VV Mineral Vaikundarajan addressed the question head on by assuring that the company has always carried out all operations within legal boundaries. “We have established a mineral separation plant and approached the AERB for a license, which is awaited,” he said while rubbishing the grouses set up by IREL officials. He further stated that IREL has been illegally mining in VV Mineral’s land and indulged in questionable practices. “No authority is ready to take action based on our complaint. Hence we approached the High Court,” said VV Mineral Vaikundarajan.
Following the allegations, the sand mining activities have been temporarily suspended. VV Minerals has filed two writ petitions on the matter that are pending with the Madras High Court. Meanwhile, VV Mineral Mining assures that the investigating committee’s report will come out in favor of the company.
The new mining laws have put private rare earth mineral sector in an uncertain position. With the industry raising their concern against the law, the Centre has decided to come out with rules governing leases of atomic minerals. VV Mineral Mining is India’s largest garnet miner and exporter. “These minerals are used in ceramic and higher technology items. The origin of these minerals is traced to Western Ghats,” informs VV Minerals India.
