Public sector company Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited (MECL) plans to spend ₹208 crore spread over five years on energy and non-energy mineral exploration.

“To enhance exploration-associated activities other than drilling, the investment needed is ₹108 crore and ₹20 crore for infrastructure development,” said a senior MECL official.

“However, major investment out of this i.e. ₹187 crore is planned in first-three years itself i.e. from 2015-16 to 2017-18 for strengthening of our capabilities,” he added.

Financial details

As for the notified minerals, a one-time total estimated expenditure for procurement of plant and machinery along with infrastructure development has been assessed at ₹87 crore.

The official said that MECL is also exploring financial assistance/capital investment in the form of corporate interest free-loan subsidy from government in phased manner.

In the light of MMDR Act, MECL is planning to take up detailed exploration G2 (general exploration) and G1 (detailed exploration) in a big-way.

Future plan

Further, the company is also banking on the benefits due to setting up of National Mineral Exploration Trust by the Ministry of Mines.

The Trust is the key feature of latest amendment to MMDR Act, through which benefits could be accrued in enhancing exploration for various minerals such as limestone, bauxite, iron ore and manganese including base metals, precious metals and strategic metals. MECL has chalked out a plan to accelerate its growth and grow at faster rate by increasing exploratory drilling from 4.81 lakh metres (2015-16) to 7.50 lakh metres (2019-20) including outsourcing 1.10 lakh metres (2015-16) to 2.50 lakh metres (2019-20).

In the last five years, exploratory drilling of the company has increased from 2.67 lakh metres in 2010-11 to touch 4.10 lakh metres in 2014-15.

The company has projected its revenue to touch ₹627 crore by FY2019-20 from this year’s ₹341 crore.

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