Hindustan Copper Ltd's Surda mine in Jharkhand, which resumed production this month following trouble with the previous contractor in June, is nearing 80 per cent capacity and headed towards full capacity by October, a top official today said.
"Production was in doldrums since last April due to former contractor. It is in process of ramping up and is currently close to 80 per cent utilisation and by October, it is expected to be close to full-capacity," a senior Hindustan Copper official told PTI.
With production coming back on track with 200-210 tonnes, the monthly impact on revenue will be around Rs 6-7 crore, the official said.
The Perth-headquartered contractor India Resource Limited (IRL) had terminated the contract of the mine.
Hindustan Copper appointed Sriram EPC, an Indian company, to operate the Surda mine on a short term contract of six months till the copper refiner was able to finalise a long-term contract.
IRL terminated the Surda mine contract in June this year citing significant cash flow issues following industrial unrest and Hindustan Copper's failure to reimburse a 40 per cent statutory increase in wages.
Hindustan Copper had said that IRL had arbitrarily terminated the contract in June but since April, production was less than one-fourth of the capacity.
The company has maintained that the notice for termination was unilateral, wrongful and in breach of a contract for which Hindustan Copper was entitled to claim liquidated damages from IRL.
In the wake of a face-off with IRL, the Hindustan Copper board has decided that, going forward, it would be mandatory for a foreign contractor to tie-up with an Indian entity to become eligible to bid with the state-owned copper major.
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