(THE NEWSMAN OF INDIA)
The groundbreaking ceremony was held today at Ghatsila Unit of HCL for construction of a concentrator plant at Rakha, initiating Chapri-Sidheswar mine, development of new mine and reopening Rakha mine projects. Raghubar Das,Chief Minister of Jharkhand was the Chief Guest of the event.Bidyut Baran Mahato, Hon’ble MP (LS), Jamshedpur,and Lakshman Tudu,MLA, Ghatsila, were the Guests of Honour.Santosh Sharma, CMD presided over the event.S. K. Bhattacharya, Director (Mining) HCL and Dinesh Shaw, Vice President, Zila Parishad (20 point programme), were also present on the occasion.

Addressing a large gathering, Raghubar Das,Chief Minister, congratulated the Management of HCL for initiating the action for development of Chapri-Sidheswar mine which is a new mine and initiating process for re-opening of Rakha mine which was closed in 2001. Speaking on the occasion, the Hon’ble Chief Minister stated that he can empathize with the pain an employee undergoes when a Unit is closed and is very happy that the Company has taken steps in the right direction to reopen the Rakha mine after its closure in 2001 and the State Government is committed to extending all help to HCL to further implement its mine expansion projects in the State of Jharkhand.

CMD HCL, while elaborating the mine expansion strategy and plan in Ghatsila area, expressed his gratitude to the State Government and acknowledged the active role played by Bidyut Baran Mahato, MP, who had taken the issues with Hon’ble Prime Minister and Hon’ble Chief Minister of Jharkhand for early approval and clearances from the Government.Sharma informed that Chapri and Rakha project have combined production capacity of 50 lakh tonne with an investment of Rs 1000 crore and will be implemented with “Zero Mine Waste” Philosophy.

Sharma also underlined the support of Shri Bidyut Baran Mahato, MP, in allocation of land for the concentrator plant at Rakha on record time and complimented the State Government for the same. CMD HCL informed that the above projects will create direct job opportunities for around 8000 people of the area. Considering the opportunity to further increase the resource base of Copper mineral in the State, HCL has finalized plan to undertake depth exploration upto 1000 meter from surface in its exiting lease area in next two years at a cost of Rs 100.0 crore,Sharma said.

Bidyut Baran Mahato,MP (LS), Jamshedpur and Lakshman Tudu, Hon’ble MLA,Ghatsila, also spoke during the ground breaking ceremony.Speaking on the occasion,Mahato highlighted the importance of enhancing mining activities in the Rakha area for the local population and requested HCL to ensure that cent percent employment is provided to them.

In his welcome speech Sanjay Singh, Unit Head, ICC expressed his gratefulness to Raghubar Das, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Bidyut Baran Mahato, MP (LS) and other dignitaries for gracing the momentous occasion with their presence and thanked the District officials for all the success of the event.

Hindustan Copper Limited, the only Copper mining Company in India, in its Unit located at Ghatsila has planned to implement total five mine expansion projects to increase the mine capacity form current 4 to 72 lakh tonne with total capital investment of Rs 1600 crore. The project is expected to take five years for completion. Successful implementation of the project will also reduce country’s dependence on imported copper concentrate.