The state-owned Industrial Development Corporation of Odisha Limited (Idcol) and Indian Rare Earths Limited (IREL) signed an MoU on Saturday to set up a heavy mineral separation plant in Ganjam district at the cost of Rs 450 crore.
VV Minerals, a Tamilnadu-based mining firm having largest market share in ilmenite production and exports, has evinced interest for excavation and refining of the mineral in Odisha with an investment of Rs 100 crore.
A grim sight greets the eye as the roads wind towards a sleepy fishing hamlet called Periyasamypuram in Tuticorin district, Tamil Nadu. There is red and brown everywhere — a desert-like landscape with even the few remaining palms drying up. The residents of this small village are equally grim and not people to mess with. They have managed to kick the beach sand mining mafia right out of their village.