Lime Waiting For Steel's Turnaround

Though lime finds applications in a range of industries, its single largest user world-wide is steel. And, with the market for the latter being depressed for the last few years, the lime industry has been experiencing a sluggish 3-4 percent growth annually in India. Adding to its woes is the fact that the industry is highly unorganised, dominated by bit players. But Sigma Minerals, keeping an eye on future demand, is planning to set up a new modern kiln and hydration plant in the course of the next 2 years at an investment of ₹40-45 crore and is eyeing more mines, preferably in the Nagaur district of north-western Rajasthan, Surendra Nath Bhargava, Managing Director, Sigma Minerals, told Steel Insights.

Tell us a bit about the company, its inception, product portfolio etc?

Sigma Minerals Ltd. was established in 1975. It is the first ISO 9001 and the only 14001 certified company that is into lime manufacturing. Our operations are governed on an integrated set-up of limestone mines, lime kilns, state-of-art plants and well equipped laboratories.

One key factor that propelled our growth is the most advanced twin shaft lime kiln, based on technology provided by Cimprogetti of Italy. This kiln produces highly reactive and high purity lime and is one of the most significant assets of Sigma. We offer our services to various industries like steel, sugar, chemicals and fertilisers, paints and pigments, leather, plastic, paper, construction, building elements, flue gas treatment, water treatment and effluent treatment plants, etc.

Our product portfolios includes hydrated lime, quick lime manufactured from our Cimprogetti kiln, quick lime manufactured from traditional kilns, quick lime powder and limestone.

What is the company’s installed capacity and actual production volumes? Where are your plants and mines located? Are the mines owned/leased?

Sigma has an overall installed capacity of around 1,100 tonnes /day, whereas the actual production ranges between 950-1,050 tonnes/day. We run three manufacturing units, of which unit I is located at Khejarla (KHJ), in Jodhpur district, and units II and III are located at Basni Hari Singh (BHS), again in Jodhpur district. Our limestone mines are located at Bilara and Khimsar (Jodhpur district) and Nagaur (Nagaur district). These mines are on lease from the state government of Rajasthan.