K K Birla Group, Mangalore Power Tie Up For Fly Ash Venture

In a communication with Business Standard, Mangalore Power Company managing director Ron Somers said, A memorandum of understanding with the K K Birla company is in effect. The initial capitalisation of this company will be $5 million.

Called India Ash Products Ltd, the new company will have Cogentrix subsidiary ReUse Technology as its majority shareholder. ReUse Technology is responsible for ash management activities of Cogentrix in the US.

Cogentrix Energy Inc is a partner in the Mangalore Power Company consortium to set up the thermal power plant along with the Hong Kong-based China Light and Power Company.

India Ash Products has been specially formed to develop and market the ash products throughout the country, Somers said. Commercial utilisation of fly ash in the country is a poor five per cent, compared with Germany's 80 per cent.

 

Lack of public awareness, high investment costs, uncertain returns, non-availability of indigenous technology for the manufacture of fly ash products and general indifference by power plant companies are the chief reasons for low consumption levels of ash fly in the country.

India Ash Products plans to develop as many products as possible from the ash produced, such as pozzolana cement blocks, building materials, fill materials, potting soil, ceramics, fly-ash concrete and road aggregates.

Mangalore Power Company is setting up four 250-mw units, each. These which will produce about 42,000 tonnes of fly ash a month. However, the central environment ministry has ordered the company to utilise just 20 per cent of the total ash generated for the first year and increase utilisation each year by 10 per cent.

In case the company fails to make a dent in the Indian markets, it has made provisions for storing the materials on the site. About 320 acres of the 1,000 acres allotted for the Cogentrix thermal plant will be set aside for storing ash.

The area is to be developed in phases.