Kolkata | November 9, 2017: State-owned BEML Ltd is looking to get into the manufacturing of underground mining equipment. The defence public sector utility’s construction and mining vertical mostly manufactures open cast mining equipment. According to BR Viswanatha, Director, Mining and Construction, BEML, the plan is to use the now closed mining machinery facility of Mining and Allied Machinery Corporation (MAMC) in Durgapur for manufacture of these equipments.

The company has appointed SBI Capital Markets (SBICAP) to conduct a feasibility study on the same. MAMC, which had gone into liquidation, was taken over by a consortium of Coal India (CIL), Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) and BEML in 2010 for ₹100 crore. BEML holds 48 per cent stake, while DVC and CIL hold 26 per cent stake each.

“SBICAP is expected to come out with this report in the next two to three months. Based on that, we will take a call,” Viswanatha told BusinessLine on the sidelines of the 7th Asian Mining Congress. This incidentally is not the first time that BEML has tried to make MAMC viable. The Coal Mining Planning and Development Institute (CMPDI) had earlier been entrusted to prepare a feasibility report for the closed MAMC unit. Nothing much came of it.

Business growth

“It is a huge facility. We had some plans earlier but it did not take off. We are hopeful that the report being prepared by SBICAP will come up with a viable plan,” he said.

Apart from mining and construction, BEML or Bharat Earth Movers is also into rail and defence equipment manufacturing. The company is also bullish on growing its order book this year.

“Our order book looks very good. There is a good demand for metro and rail coaches. Mining is also growing,” he said.

As on March 31, 2017, its order book stood ₹7,582 crore, up from ₹6,347 crore in the same period, last year. As on June 30, BEML’s order-book stood at ₹7,765 crore.

(Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/)