Expansion of Reddipalayam Limestone Mine Summary Environmental Impact Assessment ABC Techno Labs India Private Limited, Chennai
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Ramco Cements Limited Expansion of Reddipalayam Limestone Mine (Existing Captive Mine) Mining Lease Area 63.60.0 Ha Proposed Production Enhancement from 1.7 MTPA to 3.0 MTPA Mineral: Limestone (ROM) S.F. Nos. Parts of 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 373, 374, 375, 376, 380, 381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 401, 402, 403 and 404 of Reddipalayam Village, Ariyalur Taluk & District, Tamil Nadu Environmental Clearance under EIA Notification 2006 Schedule Sl. No. 1(a); Category ‘B1’ (Mining in < 100 Ha) Summary Environmental Impact Assessment Awarded TOR : SEIAA-TN/F.No.6907/SEAC/TOR-691/2020 dated 13.03.2020 September 2020 EIA Consultant ABC Techno Labs India Private Limited, Chennai (Sl. No. 4 of QCI/NABET List dated 11.07.2020) Coordination for RCL : Ensyscon, Chennai 2 The Ramco Cements Limited Expansion of Reddipalayam Limestone Mine (63.60.0 Ha; 1.7 MTPA to 3.0 MTPA), Ariyalur, TN The Ramco Cements Limited Expansion of Reddipalayam Limestone Mine Mining Lease Area 63.60.0 Ha Proposed Production Enhancement from 1.7 MTPA to 3.0 MTPA Summary Environmental Impact Assessment 1.1 Introduction 1.1 Project Proponent Ramco Group is one of the leading, highly reputed and Second Largest Industrial Group in South India. It is well diversified in the fields of Cement, Ready Mix Concrete, Cement Fiber Products, Cotton and Synthetic Yarn, Software Systems, Wind Farms, Research & Development, Dry Mortar Plants, Cotton Textiles and Surgical. The total employees are about 15,700 and the Turnover of the Group is Rs.8,000 Crores. M/s, The Ramco Cements Limited (RCL), under Ramco Group, is one of the reputed Cement Companies in India. The company is the second largest cement producer in South India and sixth largest manufacturer of cement in the Country. The cement production of RCL is about 17.70 million tons per annum (MTPA) from their Cement Plants in India. v Ramasamy Raja Nagar near Virudhunagar, Tamil Nadu (established in 1961) : 2.0 MTPA (2 Lines) and going for Modernisation in 2020. v Kumarasamy Raja Nagar, Jayanthipuram near Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh (1986) : 3.65 MTPA (2 Lines) (being expanded with 3rd Kiln). v Alathiyur near Vriddhachalam, Tamil Nadu (1997): 3.0 MTPA (2 Lines). v Mathod near Chithradurga, Karnataka : 0.3 MTPA (since 2000). v Govindapuram near Ariyalur, Tamil Nadu : 5.5 MTPA (established in 2009) (2 Lines). RCL is operating Cement Grinding Units at: v Kolaghat (0.95 MTPA; expanded to 2.0 MTPA) in West Bengal. v Kattuputtur (0.75 MTPA) near Chennai, Tamil Nadu. v Valapadi (2.0 MTPA) near Salem, Tamil Nadu. v Vizag (0.95 MTPA; being expanded to 2.0 MTPA) near Anakapalli, Andhra Pradesh. v Haridaspur (0.9 MTPA; to be commissioned soon), Jajpur District, Odisha. It is also operating a Packing Plant at Nagercoil. RCL is producing Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC), Slag Cement (PSC), Composite Cement (CC), etc. The cement produced by RCL is marketed in the brand name of ‘RAMCO’. The brand name RAMCO SUPER GRADE is very popular PPC and RAMCO SUPER STEEL is Slag Cement brand. The market centers are mainly in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha and West Bengal States. 3 The Ramco Cements Limited Expansion of Reddipalayam Limestone Mine (63.60.0 Ha; 1.7 MTPA to 3.0 MTPA), Ariyalur, TN RCL which has always been striving for Total Quality, possesses International Certificate ISO:9001, ISO:14001, ISO:45001 (18001) and ISO:50001. The company has achieved various awards for 'Best Performance' in the Cement Industry and also Green Rating Project Awards 4 Leaves from Centre for Science and Environment for the Year 2005. The Contact information of RCL Corporate Office is : The Executive Director (Operations), The Ramco Cements Limited, 5th Floor, Auras Corporate Centre, No. 98A, Dr.Radhakrishnan Road, Mylapore, Chennai-600 004. Tel. No. : 044-28478666/28478661/28478656 Fax No. : 044-28478676 e-Mail : [email protected] 1.2 Project Profile RCL is operating two Cement Plants in Ariyalur District viz. Alathiyur Cement Plant near Pennadam (3.0 MTPA) and Govindapuram Cement Plant near Ariyalur (5.5 MTPA) along with their Captive Limestone Mines. Govindapuram Cement Plant is located at a distance of 40 km from Alathiyur Plant to its south. Govindapuram Cement Plant (with Lines I & II) is being operated for 5.5 MTPA Cement along with Captive Power Plant for generating 66 MW for Captive Use. The Line-I is in operation since May 2009 and Line-II along with CPP are in operation since September 2012. The Plants operations are in full compliance with the conditions stipulated in the Environmental Clearances (ECs) awarded by MoEF&CC and Consent to Operate (CTO) Orders issued by TNPCB. The Cement Plant requires about 5.5 MTPA cement grade Limestone which is being met from the existing Captive Limestone Mines viz. Periyanagalur, Kattupirangium, Reddipalayam, Pudupalayam North, Usenabad South and Periyanagalur West in the Ariyalur Region. The Centralised Crusher is operated at the Cement Plant. These Mines operations are in full compliance with the conditions stipulated in the ECs awarded by MoEF&CC/SEIAA-TN and CTO Orders issued by TNPCB. RCL Reddipalayam (RPM) Mine is one of the Captive Mines of RCL Govindapuram Cement Plant. RPM Mining Lease (ML) Area is over an Extent of 63.60.0 Ha and is non-forest type. In the Lease area of 63.60.0 Ha, 59.49.5 Ha is RCL’s own Patta Land and 4.10.5 Ha is Government Poramboke Land in S.F. Nos. Parts of 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 303, 373, 374, 375, 376, 380, 381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 401, 402, 403 and 404 of Reddipalayam Village, Ariyalur Taluk & District, Tamil Nadu (Fig. 1.1). Permitted Outside Dump Area of 31.37.2 Ha is also RCL’s own Patta Land (Parts of 239, 243, 244, 249 of Reddipalayam Village & 67, 68, 69 of Nagamangalam Village). The Lease is at about 12 km (aerial) distance in SE from RCL Govindapuram Cement Plant and 24 km by Road. RPM Mine was commissioned during 2007-08. The Limestone production from this Mine was commenced from 2011-12. Mining is carried out by Open Cast Mechanized Conventional as well as Non- conventional Method using Xcentric Rippers. Southern Part of the Lease was taken-up for the Mining initially, mined out fully till 49 m below ground level (BGL) and Backfilling is being carried out now (Surface Plan as Fig. 2.1). The Production of the Mine is 1.70 MTPA Limestone on Raw Ore Mined (ROM) basis. 4 The Ramco Cements Limited Expansion of Reddipalayam Limestone Mine (63.60.0 Ha; 1.7 MTPA to 3.0 MTPA), Ariyalur, TN 5 The Ramco Cements Limited Expansion of Reddipalayam Limestone Mine (63.60.0 Ha; 1.7 MTPA to 3.0 MTPA), Ariyalur, TN 6 The Ramco Cements Limited Expansion of Reddipalayam Limestone Mine (63.60.0 Ha; 1.7 MTPA to 3.0 MTPA), Ariyalur, TN Proved Mineable Reserves (111 Category) of RPM Mine is about 2,15,41,172 Tonnes. About 86,96,559 Tonnes (40.37%) of reserves was already mined out till 2019-20. The Balance Reserves of RPM Mine, as on 01.04.2020, is 1,28,44,613 Tonnes. Thus, RPM Mine alone is having the Reserves to support the Cement Plant comfortably for another 6 Years. Thus, the production level of RPM Limestone Mine has to be enhanced. Accordingly, RCL now proposes to increase the production capacity of the Mine. The exiting Statutory Clearances and Approvals are given in Table-1. Table : 1 Existing Statutory Clearances & Approvals Sl. No. Clearances/Approvals Order Reference Validity Period / Remarks 1 ML Grant by Government of G.O No. 662 Industries (MMA 2) 30 years Tamil Nadu Dept., dated 09.10.1998 2 ML Deed Execution Executed on 05.10.2001and From 23.07.2004 till 22.07.2034. Registered on 23.07.2004 Valid till 22.07.2054 as per MMDR Amendment Act 2015 3 Environmental Clearances EC for expansion in production CTO (Expansion) for mining 1.7 quantity from 1.2 MTPA to 1.7 MTPA Limestone were obtained MTPA Limestone vide MoEF Ltr. on 12.08.2013 No. J-11015/337/2009-1A.II (M) dated 22.05.2013 4 Mining Plan Approval ‘Review of Mining Plan including Period for 2020-21 to 2024-25 Progressive Mine Closure Plan vide for 3.0 MTPA IBM-Chennai Lr. No. TN/ALR/LST/ROMP/1565/MDS dated 21.10.2019 5 Consent to Operate Renewal CTOs for mining 1.7 For Period 2017-18 to 2020-21 MTPA Limestone vide TNPCB Valid till 31.03.2021 Orders No.180818118578 (Water Act) and 180828118578 (Air Act) dated 08.01.2018 RPM Mining operations are in full compliance with the conditions stipulated in awarded Environmental Clearances and Consent to Operate orders issued by TNPCB. Certified EC Compliance Report of the Mine has been obtained and submitted from the Regional Office, MoEF&CC, Chennai vide F. No. EP/12.1/2013-14/TN/1014 dated 24.06.2019. Also, there was no Show-Cause Notice issued by TNPCB under Air & Water Acts as well as no Directions issued under Environmental Protection Act for RPM Mining operations by the Authorities. There was no Production Violation during operation of the Mine. There is no Rehabilitation & Resettlement (R&R) issue due to the proposal. There is no litigation/pending case against the proposal. The proposal is for expansion of Limestone Production of RPM Mine from 1.7 MTPA to 3.0 MTPA within the existing Lease Area (no addition of land).