NMDC Social Awareness Award - 2015-16 by FIMI to SKM

Sindesar Khurd Mine has been awarded with NMDC Social Awareness Award ‐ 2015‐16 by Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) for their significant contribution in socio‐economic development of the community residing near its business locations.
The award was presented by Shri Piyush Goyal ‐ Hon'ble Minster of State for Mines, Power, Coal & New & Renewable Energy at a function held during 50th Annual General Meeting of FIMI in Eros Hotel at New Delhi on 3rd October, 2016. Mr. Sunil Duggal ‐ CEO, HZL graced the occasion with his presence. Also present were Secretary Mines Govt. of India, senior govt. officials, executives and mining professionals of leading companies across India.
During the event, Mr. Rajeev Bora ‐ Unit Head, SKM received a special citation for significant
contribution to the community development effort.
On behalf of Hindustan Zinc, the award was received by Mr. Joydeep Chandra – Head Mill, HZL and Mr. S.N. Tailor – AM, CSR.

HINDUSTAN ZINC BECOMES RAJASTHAN'S FIRST CII -IGBC PLATINUM GREEN BUILDING

Hindustan Zinc rated Platinum Green by CII- IGBC 
Setting benchmark through policy of reduce, recycle, reuse, and reclaim…

Taking cognizance of green initiatives by Hindustan Zinc, CII-Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) awarded Platinum rating to the Company in a ceremony on January 10th, 2017 at Yashad Bhawan- Hindustan Zinc’s Head Office-Udaipur. The award has been constituted by CII-IGBC and the Platinum rating is the highest rating which has been given to the Registered office of Hindustan Zinc at Udaipur popularly known as Yashad (Zinc) Bhawan. Hindustan Zinc is one of the few CII-IGBC Platinum rated buildings in India, the first Company in Rajasthan and also setting the benchmark across other Vedanta companies in India.

The CII-IGBC Platinum Green building certification was presented by Mr. K.S. Venkatagiri - Executive Director, CII Sohrabji Godrej Green Business Centre, Hyderabad and was received by Mr. Sunil Duggal – CEO, Hindustan Zinc. On this occasion, Mr. Venkatagiri said, “Hindustan Zinc is the 1st building in Rajasthan to receive the Platinum Rating in existing building category and commended to achieve the same in the very 1st attempt. With about 3900 projects built over 3.59 billion sq ft, India’s green building footprint has emerged as the second largest in the world. Hindustan Zinc has set an example for other industries to follow across India.”

While receiving the award, Mr. Duggal said, “Hindustan Zinc aims to make its buildings world class structures with zero carbon and zero waste with an objective to create more and more examples for others to follow and with that the management and the employees are committed for the same”.

CII-IGBC Green Existing Buildings O&M rating system addresses green features under the categories - Site & Facility Management, Water Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, Health & Comfort and Innovation. Corporate office of HZL– ‘Yashad Bhawan’ was awarded with CII - IGBC (Indian Green Building Council) Platinum Rating under IGBC Green Existing Building rating system. Several green features are implemented at HZL to enhance the building performance. The project has achieved energy savings by 27% and water use reduction by 37%. Fresh air ventilation system is integrated with active cooling system to improve indoor air quality, which would enhance occupant comfort. One-site renewable energy of 100 kWp is installed that would generate 1,62,000 units every year. Online energy monitoring system is installed to track the energy performance of the project and would help in identifying energy use by various building component such as lighting, UPS, air-conditioning, exterior lighting usages, etc. water meters are installed at several places to record water usages.

HZL and IGBC would work together to further enhancing the building performance and would play greater role in green building movement led by IGBC.

Hindustan Zinc has developed a lush green belt across its corporate office and residential colony. Hindustan Zinc has already installed solar roof top projects. The Yashad Bhawan, head office of Hindustan Zinc too runs on Solar Power. The Company is also looking to develop solar energy projects in other parts in the State of Rajasthan. Hindustan Zinc has been working progressively towards setting up 115 MW of solar energy projects with an investment of Rs. 630 crores. Hindustan Zinc also has over 1.3 million green plantations across its business locations.

The Company's mining and smelting operations are based on environment friendly technologies that led the plant to conserve water and energy. The operations are working on zero discharge principle and the Company is putting all efforts and research for gainful utilization of waste generated at its mines, smelters and power plants.

Hindustan Zinc has installed Adiabatic Cooling Towers (ACTs), air cooled heat exchangers for minimizing loss of water through evaporation. ACT installation has resulted in overall reduction in usage of water.

The Company has also installed Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) for treating the ‘effluents’ generated by different processes at smelters. The ETP with reverse osmosis plants installed at all smelting locations is resulting in reducing freshwater foot prints of the Company. The treated effluents are recycled in the process ensuring ‘Zero Discharge’.


Hindustan Zinc has commissioned Udaipur’s first Sewage Treatment Plant (STP), with a capacity to treat 20 MLD of sewage, under the public-private-partnership model. This STP has effectively addressed the growing problem of pollution in Udaipur city’s water bodies and contributed towards enhancing the overall aquatic life and aesthetic look of lakes. Hindustan Zinc is now considering enhancing the capacity of current STP from 20 MLD to 40 MLD.

The Company also has green wind energy farms with 274 MW of power generation capacity located in Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra.

INTERNATIONAL GALVANIZING CONFERENCE 2016 FOCUS ON NEW MARKET DEVELOPMENT

International Galvanizing Conference on 20th – 21st October 2016 in Delhi

The 2nd International Galvanizing Conference was inaugurated by Hon'ble Union Minister of Steel – Shri Chaudhary Birender Singh in Delhi on 20th October, 2016. The conference saw global participation from Zinc and Alloy Industries.
Speaking on the occasion, the CEO of Hindustan Zinc – Mr. Sunil Duggal spoke about expanding Zinc market in India and the scope of Zinc in automobile industries, fertilizers, rebars, as a nutrient and towards galvanizing the rail tracks. He spoke about the ancient history of Zinc and India being pioneering country giving Zinc to the world.
Mr. Sunil Duggal said “Hindustan Zinc is ready to meet 100% die-casting requirement in India. For meeting 1% of GDP through mining, Indian mining industry needs to grow 27% and Hindustan Zinc at-least 50%. Delhi's Lotus Temple structure built lasts for 1000 years. HZL has been approached to provide Zinc for Krishna's temple in Vrindawan, since the focus is on building corrosion free structure.”
The Chief Guest of the Conference, Shri Chaudhary Birender Singh – Hon'ble Union Minister of Steel ensured industries of full support from the government and also how Zinc will play an important role towards building infrastructure for the nation.
He said “Like an ant can kill an elephant, you need Zinc coating to make Steel corrosion free. To achieve long life in bridges, India needs galvanized steel structures. Consumption of Zinc is directly related to Steel market. India needs to grow on the basis of USA's metal industry. Whatever produced, needs to be consumed. Coastal area structures are prone to corrosion incurring loss of over 1000 crores every year. The structures built on 8000 Km coastal line of India needs to be protected by choosing galvanized bar. Prime Minister - Narendra Modi's Smart City project will be built on reformed structures that will promote usage of Steel and Zinc. We need to focus on Research & Development and Exploration.”
Mr. Stephen Wilkinson - Executive Director of International Zinc Association said, “Car makers in Europe, North America, Korea and Japan have been using galvanised steel for body panels for decades. These car companies provide anti-corrosion and perforation warranties for a minimum of 10 years. But there is no such protection for most cars made for the Indian consumers. Here, the customers are advised to pay for extra coatings to protect the body of the car after purchase. More than 60% of the cars in India have surface rust which reduces steel strength and the life of the car.”
Mr. Duggal said, “India loses around 4-5% of GDP annually on account of corrosion losses. Western countries, which are far ahead of us in terms of Infrastructure, mandate the use of Galvanizing for the Steel Structures used for bridges, highways, public utility, Airports, Metro Stations, Railways stations, etc. and that is how they are able to preserve long-lasting and robust structures. For instance, Athens Bridge Pennsylvania & Curtis Road Bridge Michigan are structures that utilize Galvanized Steel rebars and have much longer life-span than the conventional bridges built with normal black steel rebar, as galvanized rebar can withstand chloride concentration at least four to five times higher than the black steel rebar and remains passivated at lower pH levels, substantially slowing the rate of corrosion. The country is going through the phase of urbanization and in the upcoming Infrastructure boom, Galvanizing, indeed plays a very important and irreplaceable role.”
The Steel Minister also launched the new product of Hindustan Zinc - 'HZDA' (Hindustan Zinc Die-Casting Alloy). The new product was launched as part of inauguration ceremony. The unique product is produced using Primary Zinc and pure aluminium. 'HZDA' will cater to the need of the die-casting sector for applications in automobile components, house hold appliances, sanitary-ware and defence. Company will also start production of the Toning Alloy series for consumption in steel galvanizing sector for precise control of aluminium in galvanizing bath.
On the occasion, CEO, HZL also said "The launch of 'HZDA' is in line with the support of Prime Minister's flag-ship program 'Make in India' and is expected to replace the imported zinc alloys and to cater to the need of Auto and Steel Industry. Hindustan Zinc is ready to meet 100% die-casting requirement in India.”
The conference deliberated on various applications of Zinc in the global economy and how Zinc is to play significant role towards improving Global Infrastructure.

INNOVATORS OF ZINC - INDIGENOUS DEVELOPMENT OF MOTORS SAVES RS. 40 LAKHS AT ZAWAR…



Indigenous development of motors saves Rs. 40 lakhs at Zawar…

Indigenous efforts of Hindustan Zinc have always proved and contributed towards reduction of costs and increase in volumes. One such effort saved Rs. 40 lakhs by indigenously developing OEM motors that were initially being imported. This is a case study of a team at Zawar Mines that brought down cost drastically by finding alternatives through in house research process.

The LOCO system in Zawar was very old and was leading to failure and subsequent breakdowns.  This was becoming the reason for substantial mine production loss. Thus, it was felt to replace the existing motors with a new set of motors.
Since the new set of OEM motors were costing around Rs. 24 lakhs it was felt to look for other possible opportunities to meet the requirements. A team led by Mr. Jorawar Singh (Commercial Head) and Mr. Tamil Selvan (AGM - Electrical) along with Ms. Apoorva Vyas (AM - Commercial) as its member started looking for opportunities and decided to opt for indigenously developed vendors in India by providing them with necessary technical details.
The efforts paid results. The team was successful in developing and procuring the same motor in India without the help of OEM and at a much reduced cost of just Rs. 4 Lakhs per motor.
Two motors were initially procured and installed in LOCO system and since the last 10 months the LOCO machines have been running smoothly and have also led to a saving of Rs. 40 lakhs.

ASK FOR ZINC - A TO ZINC IN OUR LIVES..."Fish-plate, Not Being Fishy !!"

Many of us would not know about “Fish-plate” in Railways. .. a little definition how this word has been derived… 
A fish-plate is a metal or wooden plate that is bolted to the sides at the ends of two rails. Derived from the French word 'Fiche' - which means a Peg, or 'Fichier - which means to fasten, thus a fish-plate means a plate that fastens. In railway terminology, a fish-plate is a metal bar that is bolted to the ends of two rails to join them together in a track. It is true, in railways,  if the quality of the fish-plate is poor, the caused consequences would be unimaginable. Many accidents have been attributed to “Fish-plates”. A story in leading national daily while reporting on recent rail accident of Indore-Patna Express, also attributed one of the causes of accident as corrosion of “Fish-plates”. 
Not just the Fish-plates, even the bolts need protection, protection from corrosion. 
Experts have estimated losses of almost 4 per cent of GDP per year on account of corrosion which may be avoided if the railway tracks are galvanized. 
International Zinc Association advocates, "Indian Railways requires corrosion-free tracks in case India is considering Bullet Trains. The entire change would not only be cost effective but India would also be the first country to initiate such step towards passengers safety. One of the significant aspects of railway track maintenance is the detection of corrosion and the replacement of corroded rails. The rails have a life of 800 gross million tons, which works to approximately 12-13 years under normal traffic conditions in India. Corrosion reduces the life of rail to nearly half its expected life.”
India's rail tracks, spanning 115,000 km, happen to be the world's third largest. The annual loss due to pre-replacement of corroded rails is huge about Rs 440 crore. 
Needless to mention the role of Zinc, to make the rails and fish-plates last longer… Zinc coating is the key… 
Let no one say… “Fish-plates are indeed Fishy !!!”