PRE-FEASIBILITY REPORT OF GANDLAPALLY LIMESTONE MINE (AREA: 429.07 Acres) Gandlapally Village, Kodangal Mandal Mahabubnagar District, Andhra Pradesh FOR 2.25 MILLION TONNES PER ANNUM OF LIMESTONE PRODUCTION CAPTIVE LIMESTONE MINE SEETHARAM CEMENTS LIMITED Flat No.301, Banjara Petals, Road No.5, Banjara Hills HYDERABAD-34; AP, India TEL: +91 40 23352921; Fax: +91 40 23352921 E-mail: [email protected] TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Executive summary 2. Introduction of the project/ Background information 3 Project Description. 4 Site Analysis 5. Planning Brief. 6 Proposed Infrastructure 7. Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R & R) Plan. 8. Project Schedule & Cost Estimates 9. Analysis of Proposal (Final Recommendations). CHAPTER – 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. Executive Summary M/s Seetharam Cements Ltd (SCL) operated a 120 tpd VSK based Mini Cement Plant for 14 years from 1987 to 2000 in Farorqnagar (V), Shadnagar (M), Mahaboobnagar Dist., 70 km to the existing ML area of 429.07 acres in Gandlapally (V), Kodangal (M), Mahabubnagar (D), Andhra Pradesh. SCL now proposes to setup a new Greenfield Cement Project at the pit head of Gandlapally mines for production of 1.5 MTPA clinker and 2.0 MTPA cement at Angadi Raichur/Indanur Villages of Kodangal Mandal, Mahaboobnagar District, Andhra Pradesh. Limestone requirement will be met from the existing mining lease of 429.07 acres located at 0.1 km from the proposed cement plant site Angadi Raichur/Indanur villages of Kodangal Mandal of Mahabubnagar District, Andhra Pradesh Limestone mine spreads over an area of 429.07 acres with about 48.6 million tonnes of mineable reserves will last for 22 years with proposed production capacity of 2.25 Million Tonnes Per Annum (MTPA) capacity. SCL applied for PL (prospecting licenses) adjoining to the existing ML area to support additional limestone requirement. Opencast Mechanized method of mining will be adopted. The limestone produced will be crushed in the mine for transport to cement plant by conveyor. There is no Overburden or other reject in the ML area except topsoil. Average soil thickness is 0.5 and limestone is exposed on surface at most of the places. Top soil of 0.681 million tonnes and is expected to be generated during the life of the mine which will be utilized for plantation and development of greenbelt. Water requirement for the proposed mine is about 100 m3/day for dust suppression, plantation and domestic purposes. This requirement will be supplied by cement plant initially and after formation of the mine pit, rain water collected in the mine pit will be used. The limestone bearing areas are in the form of hillock/mound with an elevation of 15 to 30 m w.r.t the surrounding plains. The capital Investment Cost is estimated as Rs. 40 Crores. All the infrastructural facilities will be provided. CHAPTER – 2 INTRODUCTION OF THE PROJECT /BACKGROUND INFORMATION 2.0 Introduction of the Project / Background information i. Identification of project and project proponent. In case of mining project, a copy of mining lease / letter of intent should be given. PROJECT: Seetharam Cements Limited (SCL) now proposes to setup a new Greenfield Cement Project at the pit head of Gandlapally mines for production of 1.5 MTPA clinker and 2.0 MTPA cement at Angadi Raichur/Indanur Villages of Kodangal Mandal, Mahaboobnagar District, Andhra Pradesh. The limestone requirement, for the proposed cement plant, will be met from Limestone mine spread over an area of 429.07 Acres with about 48.6 million tonnes of geological reserves of limestone. SCL applied for PL (prospecting licenses) adjoining to the existing ML area to support additional limestone requirement. The present proposal is for obtaining Environmental Clearance for 429.07 acres of limestone mine from Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF) under 1(a) I category of EIA notification SO1533 dated 14th Sep. 2006 and subsequent amendments dated 01.12.2009 & 04.04.2011 to operate proposed limestone mine with production level of 2.25 MTPA. The area is limestone bearing belonging to Bhima Series and in continuation to the Bhima basin in Karnataka as an isolated patch. There are two types of limestone viz massive Grey and flaggy limestone occur in the area. The area contains limestone of variegated colours most of them being high grade in quality. The mine lease document issued by Govt. of Andhra Pradesh is enclosed as Annexure-I. The limited drilling carried out in the area indicates the thickness of limestone increase gradually towards east. The deposit is a sloping terrain with elevation of the area ranging from 560-580 m above MSL with slope towards South West. PROJECT PROPONENT: SCL has entered into an MOU with the Government of Andhra Pradesh on 12th January, 2012 during the Partnership Summit to setup a 1.5 MTPA Clinkering Plant and 2.0 MTPA Cement Plant in Angadi Raichur/Indanur Villages, Kodangal Mandal, Mahabubnagar District, Andhra Pradesh. The project will be a Joint Venture Project with Builders Association of India (BAI), Hyderabad, M/s BAI agreed to extend full financial support and will take entire cement for its captive consumption. Hence, SCL have neither a problem of finance nor marketing of cement. In fact, the cement prices will get stabilized by establishing this unit in the state of AP. SCL will be supplying cement “at cost plus price” to the Government of AP for use in all its Infrastructural & Housing projects. The Hon’ble Chief Minister of AP announced at a BAI meeting held on 13/05/2012 that SCL unit will be given all clearances/ approvals for setting up the mega project and the AP Government will consider to take a stake in SCL provided the unit promoted by SCL/BAI is willing to supply cement to the Government on cost plus price. ii. Brief description of nature of the project The proposed project is a limestone mine spread over an area of 429.07 acres with about 48.6 million tonnes of mineable reserves to produce 2.25 MTPA of Limestone at Gandlapally Village of Kodangal Mandal of Mahaboobnagar District, Andhra Pradesh. The mining of the deposit is proposed to be worked by deep hole drilling & blasting with fully mechanized open cast mining method. The limestone produced from the mine will be transported to the crusher located in mining lease area by dumpers/trucks and after crushing to the desired size in the crusher will be transported to the plant by a covered belt conveyor. The benches will be of 8 m height with a width of 30 m. The benches will be sloped at 60o-65o while working and ultimately 45o to horizontal. Since, the formations are medium hard and near horizontal with dip angle between 7o – 8o, there will not be risk of any slope failures. There is no Overburden or other reject in the ML area except topsoil. Average soil thickness is 0.5 m and limestone is exposed on surface at most of the places. Top soil of 0.618 million tonnes is expected to be generated during the life of the mine which will be utilized for plantation and development of greenbelt. During the life of the mine, about 429.07 acres will be developed into water reservoir depending upon the slope and bench height, bottom most benches will be converted to water reservoirs and 6.75 Acres will be under afforestation (includes bench reclamation). iii. Need for the project and its importance to the country and or region. Cement industry is one of the main beneficiaries of the infrastructure boom. While on the one hand several big and small cement companies are actively considering expansion plans in anticipation of further growth in demand for cement, on the other, a phase of acquisitions and mergers among the existing players is also going on. In India, the south consumes maximum of 30% followed by East at 17%, North at 19%, central at 16% and West 18%. Also, there is an increase in the consumption of PPC cement from 48% to 50%. Weaker sections’ housing, construction of public toilets, schools in rural area apart from several private and public infrastructure projects will also give tremendous boost to the cement consumption in the state. Most importantly, irrigation projects, worth nearly Rs. 1 lakh Crore, will trigger unprecedented demand for the next 5-7 years. As per the industry sources, demand has mainly come from the construction sector with the three main cities in the South - Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad - witnessing hectic construction activity be it for the information technology sector, shopping malls or integrated townships. The growth in demand has prompted many cement industries to consider expanding their capacities, both in present locations and in Greenfield locations. The chemical characteristics of limestone extracted from this mine do not warrant any mineral beneficiation, since the quality of limestone produced from this mine is suitable for cement. To meet the limestone requirement of the plant, SCL has applied the lease for the subject mine, and it is aimed to produce 2.25 MTPA of limestone from this mine. Demand– supply Gap Since Limestone is the main raw material for cement production, the demand is always there with that of cement. Moreover, the subject mine produces good grade limestone leading to conservation of mineral resources. The cement market has growth due to the central government liberalization policies and new schemes for housing, road projects. Cement demand growth is anticipated to be about 11% increase mainly through road projects & Housing Projects. Continuous demand for exports to China and other South-East Asian countries along with the increased requirement of the domestic sector has been lead all the cement manufacturers in the country to plan for increased capacities.