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Bulksolids India 2010: Platform For Sharing Knowledge And Ideas

The first BulkSolids India – to take place in Mumbai on March 2-3, 2010 – will address the issues of handling, transporting and storing industrial bulk materials. As the Indian manufacturing and process industries have grown, the effective handling of bulk materials has taken on an enhanced significance. "Businesses are therefore looking for an opportunity to gain first hand information on what technology is available", as Vijay K Agarwal, Chairman of the Conference Board at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi knows.

BulkSolids India addresses those highly specialised topics which are not covered by any other technical trade events in India. As a simultaneous conference and exhibition it is a unique event, which focuses on all aspects relating to the characterisation, handling, transportation and storage of bulk materials. The conference will cover such important topics as port handling, rail transportation, belt conveying, energy efficiency, and storage. The power industry, for example, is interested in rail carriages which are able to transport coal from the mines and carry fly ash for mine filling on their return journey. This places the focus on such modes of transportation for conveying bulk materials.

"The aim is for this event to be held annually, to provide a platform for sharing knowledge and ideas amongst the delegates", envisages Vijay K Agarwal. "Maintaining close cooperations between industry and the academic world will help scientists to identify potential topics for practical applications."

Excellent prospects for the bulk solids industry
India offers excellent prospects for the bulk solids industry, with similar annual growth rates to be expected over the coming decades. Indian industry is striving to locate new solutions as it makes its way towards international competitiveness. These include investments in new machinery and innovative technologies as well as consultancy services. During the last five to ten years, many new, large capacity, integrated steel and aluminium plants have grown up in India.

All of these plants require a way of moving large quantities of bulk materials either from the mines or within the plant. The removal of coal ash from thermal power plants is another very important area involving handling and transportation. To utilise the fly ash from thermal power stations to produce pozzolanic cement, several grinding units have been set up close to the power plants. This requires the large-scale transportation of clinker from the central cement plants to the grinding facility. The Indian manufacturing and processing industries are growing at a fast pace and bulk material handling is an integral requirement of just about all such plants.

The Indian market in general
The Indian economy is now growing as rapidly as it did in the year 2007. Between April and June 2009, economic output rose by 6.1 percent compared with the previous year. The first quarter of this year saw an increase of 5.8 percent over the year before. In June, industrial production rose by 7.8 percent compared to the previous month, an increase that was the biggest for sixteen months. Economists from Barclays Bank are assuming a rise of seven percent for July, and forecast increases of a similar magnitude to continue for the coming months (Source: Financial Times Germany, 8/2009).

Concrete investments are planned for the mining industry. The leading Indian mining groups are planning on increasing their prospecting and overburden removal capacities by 10 percent p.a. over the coming years. Moreover, the plan for the future is to be able to tap into even deeper coal deposits. Only 13 percent of the current total production of 430 million tonnes is extracted underground, and then only at depths down to 300 meters (link for further information: www.coal.nic.in). Furthermore, more than USD 200 billion are to be invested in the infrastructure by 2012. India's states want to modernise and expand their run-down infrastructure with the help of public-private partnerships (PPP). The central government has pledged further support for this purpose. (Source: Germany Trade and Invest, 9/2009)

Overview of India's mining sector

89 minerals: 4 fuels, 11 metallic, 52 non-metallic, 22 minor, 3,000 operational mines, 820 state-owned, 2,290 private, 9,250 mining leases spread over 21 states, covering 13,000 mineral deposits spread across 0.7 million hectares – 0.21 % of total land mass of the country.

World's largest producer of mica blocks and splittings – 3rd largest for coal & lignite and barite – 3rd largest for chromites, Mining industry growth has been 6-7% annually with a turnover of INR 600 billion (CAD 14.63 billion).



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