Notes and News

Development of copper projects : State sector firm to be established -- Government of India has decided to set up a new company in the public sector for developing copper
projects in the country. So far work relating to copper
has been the concern of the National Mineral Development
Corporation (NMDC). However, in view of the increasing commitments of NMDC in the iron ore sector, it was felt that it would be difficult for it to manage copper as well. Accordingly, it has been decided to set up a new company to develop the three current major copper proj-ects, namely, Khetri in Rajasthan, Rakha in Bihar and Agni-gundala in Andhra Pradesh and others which may follow. The Khetri Copper Project in Rajasthan is designed for the production of 31 000 tonnes of copper by 1972-73 and 300 000 tonnes of phosphatic fertiliser from the by-products. The total investment on the Khetri Copper Complex is expected to be Rs 90 crores. The projects at Rakha and Agnigundala are presently under detailed prospecting. It
is proposed to start small-scale mining at both these places in the near future.