- MOIL (formerly Manganese Ore India Ltd), a central public sector enterprise (CPSE) under the Steel Ministry, is open to exploring lithium mining opportunities and participating in upcoming auctions, even as it plans to tap new regions for manganese ore mining “outside (its) leasehold area”
- Exploration is planned in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh/ Telangana, Goa, West Bengal and Rajasthan
Supplier to steel makers
- A ‘Miniratna’ company listed on the bourses, MOIL is into the production and sale of different grades of manganese ore (95 per cent of its output is used in steel making). The company also set up a 1,500-mtpa capacity plant based on indigenous technology to manufacture electrolytic manganese dioxide (EMD), which is used in manufacture of dry battery cells.
- MOIL operates 10 mines, six in Maharashtra and four in MP.
- Production for the first six months of the fiscal stood at 8.15 lakh tonnes, up 45 per cent year-on-year, while sales stood at 7.57 lakh tonnes, up 54 per cent YoY. EMD production was 692 mt, up 26 per cent. In H1FY24, total income was Rs 774 crore against a net profit of Rs 148 crore.
- MOIL is a Schedule “A” Miniratna Category-I Company. It was originally incorporated as Manganese Ore (India) Limited in 1962. Subsequently, the name of the Company was changed from Manganese Ore (India) Limited to MOIL Limited during the financial year 2010-11.
- MOIL was originally set up in the year 1896 as Central Province Prospecting Syndicate which was later renamed as Central Provinces Manganese Ore Company Limited (CPMO), a British Company incorporated in the UK.
- In 1962, as a result of an agreement between the Government of India and CPMO, the assets of the latter were taken over by the Government and MOIL was formed with 51% capital held between the Govt. of India and the State Governments of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and the balance 49% by CPMO.
- In 1977, the balance 49% shareholding was acquired from CPMO and MOIL became a 100% Government Company under the administrative control of the Ministry of Steel.
- At present, MOIL operates its underground and opencast mines located in the Nagpur and Bhandara districts of Maharashtra and Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh.
- All these mines are about a century old. The Balaghat Mine is the largest mine of the Company. The mine has now reached a mining depth of about 435 metres from the surface.
- Dongri Buzurg Mine located in the Bhandara district of Maharashtra is an open cast mine that produces manganese dioxide ore used by the dry battery industry. This ore in the form of manganous oxide is used as a micro-nutrient for cattle feed and fertilizers.
- MOIL fulfils about 46% of the total requirement of dioxide ore in India. At present, the annual production is around 1.3 million tones which is expected to grow in the coming years.