Tata Steel Mining Ltd (TSML), the mining arm of Tata Steel Group, may look beyond the minerals used by the parent as it charts out a road map to establish itself as a commercial mining outfit.

TSML has been chosen as the anchor for the commercial mining activities of the group. It is one of the four verticals the parent is creating to reorganise the Indian business for scale, synergies and simplification and create value for all stakeholders.

The other three clusters will operate in the areas of long products, downstream, and shared service and infrastructure verticals.

“We are open to multiple minerals which have commercial value or mining interest to it,” M. C. Thomas, managing director of TSML, said.

However, he was not drawn to name any mineral in particular, cautioning that the company would also not like to spread its resources too far.

Formerly known as TS Alloy Limited, the wholly owned subsidiary of the group, is at present engaged in the mining of chrome ore and the production of ferro chrome.

Apart from having ferrochrome plants at Athagarh and Gopalpur in Odisha, the company has three chromite mines, namely Sukinda, Kamarda and Saruabil, in Jajpur district of the state.

TSML had acquired the mines in the 2020 mineral auctions for which leases were granted for 50 years.

The mines have now been operational with an annual capacity of over 1.5 million tonnes making it the largest player in chrome ore mining in India.

The legacy mines of Tata Steel Group for iron ore and coal continue to remain with the parent as captive mines. Sukinda chrome ore mine was also with the parent before the previous lease expired.

The state had then put it up on auction, which TSML won and retained the asset within the group.

However, it became part of the commercial mining venture in contrast to the iron ore and coal assets which remained captive.

“Anything new coming up, even if it is iron ore, will be done by us,” Thomas informed, explaining that as a mining company it can look at any prospect.

However, he added that a move to bid for a new asset would be taken on a case to case basis, depending on the board decision.

Ferrochrome plans

The company is firming up plans for aggressive growth in its ferrochrome manufacturing capacity in India from 450,000 tonnes per annum at present to 900,000 tonnes per annum in the near future.

D.B. Sundara Ramam, vice-president, raw materials, Tata Steel, and chairperson, TSML, said: “We will take the organic as well as the inorganic route to augment our ferrochrome manufacturing capacity in India, leveraging the strength of the good quality of chrome ore availability. This will make TSML the top ferro chrome player in India and among the top-five globally. It makes sense to focus on value addition and convert the chrome ore to ferro chrome.”