HINDUSTAN ZINC TO SPEND RS. 80 CRORES ON EXPANSION OF SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANT TO 60 MLD IN UDAIPUR

Sustainability has always been the core value of Hindustan Zinc and all its units operate on Zero Discharge. This Sewage Treatment Plant is a significant step towards conservation of water, care for environment and a step towards zero discharge in the lakes. 

In a major relief to the people of City of Lakes, Udaipur, Hindustan Zinc will be signing an agreement with Udaipur Smart City Limited on 24th June 2017 to set-up another 40 million litres per day (MLD) capacity Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in Udaipur. It will prove to be a major step towards treatment of domestic sewage and water conservation in Udaipur.

Hindustan Zinc, India’s largest and world’s leading integrated Zinc-Lead-Silver producer had already commissioned a 20 MLD STP in Udaipur in 2014. With the additional commissioning of 40 MLD Sewage Treatment Plant, the total capacity of Sewage Treatment Plant will be now 60 MLD.

Hindustan Zinc will be signing an agreement in this regard with Udaipur Smart City Limited on 24th June 2017. The ceremony of laying the foundation stone will be held on 25^th June 2017.

On this investment by the company, CEO of Hindustan Zinc, Sunil Duggal said, “The expansion in Sewage Treatment Plant will bring the much required relief to the domestic sewage of Udaipur. Hindustan Zinc has already commissioned Sewage Treatment Plant of 20 MLD capacity in 2014, and currently, we are adding Sewage Treatment Plant of 40 MLD capacity of which Sewage Treatment Plant of 25 MLD capacity will be constructed at Eklingpura, and two decentralized Sewage Treatment Plants with combined capacity of 15 MLD will be constructed along Ayad. The company is expected to spend Rs. 80 crores for this project.”

Earlier while installing the 20 MLD Sewage Treatment Plant, which was commissioned in 2014, the company had invested Rs. 170 crores that involved expenditure pertaining to laying the pipelines for carrying the sewage to the plant.

Udaipur city has been shortlisted as one of the Smart Cities in India and the treatment of domestic sewage will be a boon to the city. In addition to treating the sewage as per its capacity, in case USCL provides more than 25 MLD of sewage, Hindustan Zinc will also treat this sewage as per feasibility.

The construction of 40 MLD capacity Sewage Treatment Plants will be based on Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR) process and have a provision for re-use of 50% treated water for Udaipur city. 

Hindustan Zinc has always been conscious of environment and has thus pioneered in adopting clean green technology in running its operations. Saving water has always been a focus area for Hindustan Zinc. Hindustan Zinc has persistent focus on minimal impact on environment and the company practices the policy of reduce, recycle, reuse, and reclaim.Not just treating sewage, these Sewage Treatment Plants, in the process will be generating a large quantity of manure that will be sold to the local bodies.

In its other projects to propagate water conservation, Hindustan Zinc has installed Effluent Treatment Plants with Reverse Osmosis at all smelting locations resulting in reducing fresh water foot prints of the company and also maintaining zero discharge status. The company has also constructed its first Adiabatic Cooling Towers (ACTs) to replace the conventional cooling towers. Adiabatic Cooling Towers reduce water wastage and also reduce the fresh water consumption.

Sustainability has always been the core value of Hindustan Zinc and all its units operate on Zero Discharge. This Sewage Treatment Plant is a significant step towards conservation of water, care for environment and a step towards zero discharge in the lakes.

VEDANTA KHUSHI - 264 ANGANWADI CENTRES JOIN “KHUSHI” IN KOTRA

Hindustan Zinc reaching out to 3055 Anganwadis of the ICDS Department in 5 districts of Rajasthan i.e. Udaipur, Rajsamand, Chittorgarh, Bhilwara and Ajmer…

“Care for the underprivileged children is very close to my heart” says Anil Agarwal, Chairman of Vedanta Group. “No child in India should remain malnourished and be deprived of nutrition, health and primary education” is what his vision is. In this process Vedanta initiated adoption of government run Anganwadis in the year 2008. The intervention was for a limited period, benefiting children in age-group of 0-6 years.

In year 2015, Hindustan Zinc signed the MoU with Government of Rajasthan to strengthen 3055 Anganwadis of the ICDS Department in 5 districts i.e. Udaipur, Rajsamand, Chittorgarh, Bhilwara and Ajmer of Rajasthan under its flagship project “Khushi” in 2 phases.

Last year under “Khushi” project, Hindustan Zinc reached out to 2295 Anganwadi centres in 5 districts of Rajasthan in phase 1.

As part of Phase 2, on 29^th June, 2017, Hindustan Zinc with partner NGO – Seva Mandir has now included 264 Anganwadi centres in Kotra Tehsil of Udaipur district and this year, the company will be covering more than 760 Anganwadi centres in Udaipur district of Rajasthan. The Chief Guest of the event was Ms. Taru Surana – Dy. Director, ICDS, Udaipur District who unveiled “Khushi” Board to initiate the program. During the program, Ms. Taru said “Anganwadi program will be strengthened with the intervention of Hindustan Zinc to improve attendance, health and the well-being of Anganwadi children.”

 

SAFETY TOWN HALL AT HZL

Hindustan Zinc organized its Safety Town Hall Meeting on 23rd May, 2017 where in 13 Units, including Head Office, joined the live interaction. Mr. Sunil Duggal – CEO, Hindustan Zinc, Mr. Naveen Singhal – Director Projects and Mr. Pankaj Kumar, COO addressed about 2000 employees including the contract workers and recently joined GETs. The Town-Hall was conducted at Udaipur from the auditorium emphasising on safety both on-site & off site. The Town Hall also saw interactive session wherein several employees from each locations asked questions and gave suggestions towards improving safety.

SAFETY TOWN HALL AT CHANDERIYA SMELTING COMPLEX - 25TH MAY, 2017

"I had a wonderful interaction with Hindustan Zinc employees at Chanderiya on being-safe for themselves and their families." Sunil Duggal, CEO HZL

65 GETs READY TO TAKE UP ROLES AT HINDUSTAN ZINC

From 47 prestigious colleges across India, 200 GETs also joined on 12th June, 2017 including 10% female GETs…

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sunil Duggal – CEO, HZL congratulated all the engineers, geologists and other graduates for their successful completion of training program. He said “Hindustan Zinc is one of the best mining companies in India and aims to become the best Mining and Technology Company of the world and the young talent will make this dream come true. Through this rigorous training program, we wish to create future leaders of our Organization.”

An organisation may be technologically advanced but it is the people who build the brand of a company. Being India's only and world's leading Zinc producing company, Hindustan Zinc endeavours to create an empowering work environment by building a technically proficient talent pool and creating an inclusive work culture while enhancing their leadership capabilities and simultaneously creating avenues for their career growth. 

Last year, Hindustan Zinc recruited 65 dynamic engineers who have completed rigorous one year training cum development program. Initially these engineers were trained in various departments - Human Resource, Finance, Marketing, Mining and Smelting in 45 days classroom training program at Chanderiya Smelting Complex. Further, they were given on the job training at all locations of Hindustan Zinc in which they have undertaken various projects benefiting the company in terms of safety, productivity, volume and cost of production. These GETs were also assessed through digital assessment process involving weekly tests and quarterly merit.

To acknowledge these projects, Convocation cum Welcome Ceremony was organized at the Auditorium of Yashad Bhawan. 

The event commenced with safety briefing by Manish Jha (GET- Mining). Atul Sharma (GET- Mining), Aratrika Chakraborty (Engineer- Electrical), Divy Chaturvedi (Engineer-Mechanical) and Nikita Agrawal (Chemical- Engineer) shared their experiences of one year in Hindustan Zinc and encouraged the upcoming batch to learn, work-hard and enjoy the training journey.

Mr. Laxman Shekhawat - COO Mines, Mr. Pankaj Kumar - COO Smelters, Mr. Dilip Pattanayak – Head HR also welcomed the newly inducted GETs. Also present were Mr. V. Jayaraman – Head HSE, Mr. Ramakrishanan Kasinath - Head CCO, Mr. P.K. Jain - Head Corporate Relations and Mr. Sanjay Sharma – AVP HR.

Top ten performers from last year's batch were announced and they were called upon stage to receive their medals & certificates. M. Thirumurugan (Engineer-Mining) was the topper followed by Nikita Agrawal (Engineer-Chemical) and Rohit Jaiswal (Engineer- Electrical).These engineers will be given the opportunity to visit international mining companies to gain global mining experience.

Also present were 200 GETs out of which 10% are female and who have joined Hindustan Zinc on 12th June, 2017 from 47 prestigious colleges. They will undergo a 48 days meticulous training at Singhania Institute.

BUSINESS STANDARD: ADDING VALUE TO INDIA'S DEMOGRAPHIC WEALTH

Anil Agarwal  I  10th June, 2017

It is said that age is just a number, and that this number will be an advantage for India in years to come as it inches closer to becoming the youngest country in the world, and perhaps the most populous.
With women accounting for just 23 per cent of the workforce in India today as compared to China's 46 per cent, we need to look beyond the current paradigm of job seekers and job creators. Demography and economy must go hand in hand, and considering how diverse India is, our economy needs its people to fuel growth. I am confident that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already sensed this as it is aligned with his vision for launching “Skill India".
Our ultimate objective is to eradicate poverty and create employment for youth and this requires some visionary thinking. The government is already shifting focus to the growth of manufacturing industry. If we compare our economy to that of our neighbours, China for instance, as of 2015, the manufacturing industrial sectors contributed 40 per cent of China's GDP, while in India this contribution is just 25 per cent.
India is blessed with a very rich geology, and I strongly believe that India's journey to self-sufficiency in the natural resources sector, including oil and gas, has the capacity to create millions of job opportunities, which will overcome some of the greatest impediments to growth on the socio-economic and political front. We have a large amount of headroom, as mining accounts for only 2.5 per cent of India's gross domestic product, whereas in other mineral-rich countries such as Australia, it is around 10 per cent.
This process will also encourage the development of thousands of SMEs, which will lead to the building of a modern economy that will empower people and improve their lives, ultimately fuelling growth and encouraging young entrepreneurs. Efforts must also be made to ensure empowerment of women, so that they are placed in the forefront to contribute more actively towards the country's GDP.
Across the globe, educating and empowering women has proven time and again to be the catalyst for rapid socio-economic and political growth. Women form a very significant part our society and demonstrate great skill, intelligence, hard work and innovation. If we harness the potential of these attributes through a proper skill development programme, India's growth will be very equitable and inclusive.
In order to secure the future of India, we have to safeguard the present. I pledge to give 75 per cent of my wealth for the social good. To strengthen the foundation of children below the age of seven years  their nutrition, health and education  I am prepared to spearhead this responsibility in association with the government in a very structured manner. This includes nurturing 7.5 crore underprivileged children living in remote rural areas, below the age of seven years, who are in need of proper nutrition, health care and education. Our primary focus, therefore, is to start at the grass root level with the holistic development of children and women, who form the future of our nation.
It is with these objectives that we have reimagined the concept of Anganwadis, as project “Nand Ghar" (symbolising the child avatar of Lord Krishna), or “home for young ones" as centres of learning for both women and children. The project, which addresses issues relating to pre-primary education, health care, nutrition for children and economic empowerment for women in rural India, has been designed in partnership with the ministry of women and child development. These Nand Ghars have clean toilets, safe drinking water and electricity through solar panels and various education and recreation facilities.
Today, our pilot of 100 Nand Ghars across three states has shown a marked improvement in attendance, learning abilities and school readiness, by deploying e-learning modules in education and soft skills in collaboration with world-class partners. To make the model integrated, we are ensuring that the women undergo entrepreneurship training, including skill enhancement, to start their own micro enterprise with credit linkages, thereby increasing their contribution towards the Indian economy.
Nand Ghars will prove to be a stepping stone for future human capital that would be value-based, productive, passionate, and full of energy and ideas. With this upbringing, these children will contribute positively towards society and live a dignified life in future.
I firmly believe that strong social initiatives will be a game changer in terms of delivering long-term benefits to communities, and will place India at the top in the global economic arena. It is always better to bring change in the system if it simplifies procedures and brings the desired results. By incorporating facilities to empower women and children we aim to add value to India's unmatched demographic wealth. 

ECONOMIC TIMES: THREE YEARS MORNING SHOWS THE DAY

By Anil Agarwal I May 27, 2017

Demonetisation was announced on November 8, 2016. That one night changed the fortunes of many and brought good luck to many others. History was created. Some slept peacefully while others could not sleep at all. But one thing was certain: whether it was an individual or a company, an honest taxpayer had no worries.
Vedanta was among one of the many companies that stayed grounded during demonetisation. There had been no cash transactions for several years in the group companies. More than 80,000 people, directly or indirectly attached with Vedanta as employees or contract employees, stood fearless. Their faith in the Indian economy was reinstated.
Equally commending is the implementation of the goods and services tax). The uniformity in the stabilisation of the economy will bring a unique balance of trade within the country. The simpler — and the more unified — the tax structure, the better it is for the economy in the long run.
The transformation of the Indian economy was taking place by simultaneous monetisation and demonetisation. Many felt proud belonging to this new India, this modern India, a monetised India with its potential to Make in India.
Many projects like Digital India, Make in India and Swachh Bharat launched by the government are not just names coined to fulfil the needs and aspirations of people. The projects are also bringing hope, providing opportunities for many more new industries to open up and create millions of employment opportunities and help towards eradication of poverty.
Make in India has opened up new business models, the startups that want to get a taste of this dynamic new economy. Innovations have started and companies are importing global technology. For once, the world is seeing India with a new vision and a nation that can revive global economy.
If we do not initiate Make in India now, we will always remain an economy of imports. What the country would earn would only be utilised towards footing the import bill. Moreover, it would never bring prosperity in any capacity, as there would be no new jobs due to lack of new industries.
Like everyone, I too have a dream. I hope to make India the world’s largest zinc, aluminium and iron ore producer in the world. I hope to further maximum production of oil and gas for India so we can reduce our import bill. I also want to make the country self-sufficient in gold, fertiliser and technology.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently stated that the development of natural resources can be a game-changer for creating employment for millions. It’s a matter of time before our natural resources are sustainably developed to strengthen the economy and create millions of jobs to eradicate poverty, particularly in rural India.

FINANCIAL EXPRESS: REGULATORY FRAMEWORK: VEDANTA RESOURCES’ ANIL AGARWAL SAYS ‘CREATE AN UMBRELLA MINISTRY FOR NATURAL RESOURCES’

By Anil Agarwal I Published: May 15, 2017

Vedanta fully endorses the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi Ji on utilization of immense human capital clubbed with natural resources of India for creation of millions of employment opportunities in India and making India a USD 5 trillion economy in the next few years.  A recent Morgan Stanley report also stated that with government policies and massive disruptive workforce Indian economy is well placed to reach USD 5 trillion mark by 2025.

The United States of the early to mid- 1900's has some striking parallels with the India of today. It was around this time that America began its journey towards becoming the world’s largest economy.

The biggest factors that propelled the growth and transformation of the US were technology, natural resources, manufacturing and private enterprise; a few men who dreamt big helped create the modern America. Andrew Carnegie, John Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, J P Morgan and Henry Ford with their entrepreneurial spirit and innovative approach built businesses that helped make the transition to the modern industrial era. They laid the foundations of the American steel industry, oil and gas, natural resources and mining, manufacturing, finance and infrastructure building including roads, rail and ports.

America’s growth journey has some lessons for India. Both are large vibrant democracies with abundant natural resources. While America benefited from a large flow of immigrants in search of the American dream, India has a large population in the working age group. More importantly, like the US, India has people with entrepreneurial spirit who can visualize a new India and unleash its potential.

India is a country with one of the largest reserves of natural resources in the world, the transformational potential of India’s resources sector is immense. Over $1-Trillion treasure is waiting to be explored in India. An open and simple exploration policy for extraction of natural resources will make India an economic powerhouse that will have the potential to create millions of employment and eradicate poverty.

India’s current underutilization of resources tells almost an unbelievable story. Despite having a similar geology to North America, Latin America, Australia and South Africa, we produce only 20% of our natural resource requirements. The mineral exploration industry in countries such as Canada spends over $2 billion per annum in green-field exploration, whereas India spends less than $50 million. 

The scope is immense since Indian almost imports 100% oil, gold, fertilizers and even electronics.  

What surprises is the bauxite mining in India, a raw material used to make aluminium. In spite of rich reserves of over 3.5 billion tonnes, that can make India the top 5 aluminium producers in the world, India is not able to mine bauxite for the last over 35 years. India has failed to tap the large aluminium market, widely known as a green metal, and lost out to countries like China that fully imports the raw material. Even with 3.5 billion tonnes of bauxite, which is the third largest reserve of bauxite in the world, India only manages an annual production less than 2 million tonnes of aluminium. In contrast, China that has no reserves of bauxite but produces about 20 million tonnes of aluminium annually.

The story is similar in the case of iron ore. Given our reserve level, we are in a position to produce quantities matching Brazil’s and Australia’s, which produce in the range of 600 million tonnes per annum. Against this, we have so far been producing a modest quantity of over 100 million tonnes on yearly basis that also stands drastically reduced due to cap on production.

Narendra Modi Ji transparency can prove to be a milestone in the history of job creation through utilization of natural resources as this is a sector that has the potential to create employment not just in urban sector but also in rural part of the country. This is a sector that needs young engineers, chartered accountants, management graduates, geologists, community service professionals, and also unskilled manpower that is sourced almost 100% from nearby villages.

What is needed is a simple policy that auctions natural resources in the most sustainable and transparent manner, on revenue sharing basis or highest royalty. It will also encourage young start-ups who are keen to develop ancillary industries to utilize the metals using best of global technology. The key to this simple revolution lies in a simpler regulatory framework, based on transparent policies and processes, emphasising self-declaration and strong deterrents and penalties for non-compliance.

We also need to simplify and unify our regulatory and approval process across the board by reducing at least 80% of our processes as well as clearance time. This can be done using technology, automation and simpler policies and rules. A simplified regulatory and approval process could be a good enabler to get the best out of our bureaucracy.

As a suggestion, to strengthen the country’s economy form a single large ministry to deal with development of all natural resources, bring oil & gas, mines, coal and steel under single umbrella and under a strong visionary leader. This new Ministry of Natural Resource would look into the optimum development of natural resources.

These are some of the factors that also enabled America to emerge as an economic powerhouse. India can follow suit as long as all stakeholders have the will and commitment.

The world is looking at India as the next destination after China. Some of the biggest advantages that India has are its vibrant democracy, a vigilant media and an excellent legal framework.