Get all the information on Heavy mining industry, various minerals and there location in India. VV Minerals is specialized in beach sand mining in India. VV Minerals is based in Tamil Nadu, India Mr. Vaikundarajan the chairman of VV Mineral.
VV Minerals Mining leading beach mineral exporters, received the 'CAPEXIL Award' for its performance in export.
Kalraj Mishra, Union minister of micro, small and medium enterprises presented the award to V. Subramanian, managing director of VV Minerals, at a function in Delhi on January 28th.
VV Minerals Vaikundarajan said in an interview “The award symbolizes ease of doing business for promoting mineral exports from the country. Simplicity of processes and maximum support to the importers has always been a priority for VV Minerals. We value our clients and employees alike and this award just affirms the same for us.”
The award mainly stands for the service quality provided by the company. VV Minerals has a huge annual output of 150,000 tonnes of Garnet abrasives, 225,000 tonnes of Ilmenite, 12,000 tonnes of Zircon and 5,000 tonnes of Rutile.
Transworld Garnet India Private Limited (TGI), a Thoothukudi-based mineral exporter was also selected as one among the 63 'CAPEXIL awardees' under the special export category. C Sakthi Ganapathy, managing director of TGI received the award from the MSME minister the same day.
Following several allegations of illegal beach mining against some companies, the state government has set up an investigating team to probe into the matter.
However, the coastal population, mainly Fishermen United Front, have shown little or no faith in the investigating team’s work. The reason for this is yet to be revealed.
Vaikundarajan, Managing Director of VV Minerals India, is accused of using political connections over the matters concerning illegal mining activities. None of these allegations are supported by strong evidence. The company has assured to have carried all mining activities with legal boundaries.
Heavy beach mining activities seem to have taken a toll on the coastal areas like Viapar, a village in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu. The people of these areas say the waves are reaching closer to their homes by the day.
The minute these statements were in the news, the spotlight moved to VV Minerals and the alleged case of illegal mining filed against the firm. VV Mineral Miningis the largest producer and exporter of ilemnite and garnet and one of the biggest beach mining companies in India.
The former District Collector, Ashish Kumar, had probed into this matter and claimed that VV Minerals was had violated its mining leases. No solid proof against VV Minerals was discovered even after raiding the office of S Vaikundarajan, owner and Managing Director of the firm.
Later, Ashish Kumar’s association with the industry rivals of VV Mineral Mining were discovered and he was controversially transferred.
The representative of VV Minerals strictly denied these allegations and claimed that the "charges made by the former District Collector are baseless, motivated and vague."
VV Minerals dismisses all allegations as a conspiracy by its business rivals.
"VV Minerals owner Vaikundarajan knows every inch of the area and he has recorded large scale illegal mining going on with the connivance of all departmental officials. All functionaries of nodal departments of GOI and nodal mines department in Tamil Nadu have all been singing, dancing and collecting bribes together. Now, with Christmas just a few months away, the bribing would begin," Mr Sundaram claimed in an interview.
"Sundaram is passing this as a cruel joke. He is on the payroll of our business rival. Our hands are clear. We will come out clear from these allegations. Our records are straight," said Ravindram Duraiswami, VV Minerals’ advocate.
All the mining activities in the South have been suspended by the State Government following allegations of sand mining against VV Minerals India. The allegations, however, are not backed by any evidence. The government has currently ordered to set up an investigation team to reach a conclusion.
VV Mineral Vaikundarajan, denied all allegations and said, “It is a ploy by business rivals to defame the company.”
A former IAS officer, V Sundaram had written a letter to the government alleging that it had suffered a loss of nearly 90000 crores through illegal mining. He further claimed to have received threat calls for his comments in the media.
Niranjan Mardi, the state chief secretary, said in his email, “I derive my constitutional right to serve as a fearless whistleblower under article 51A of the Indian Constitution.” He insists on fighting the gigantic public corruptions and demands adequate and immediate police protection from the Tamil Nadu government.
In the wake of these allegations, Vaikundarajan has affirmed his innocence and believes that the investigation result will be in favor of the company. Furthermore, no evidence has yet been forthcoming to convict the company.
VV Minerals issued a statement denying all allegations. "Mr Sundaram's complaint against us is a publicity stunt. He has joined hands with our business rival Mr Daya Devadosan. We came out clean earlier after an inspection in May and this time too we will come out clean," said the lawyer for VV Minerals, S Ravindran Duraisamy.
S. Vaikundarajan, founder and managing director of V. V. Minerals, has been under scrutiny since the start of the alleged case of illegal export of thorium-rich sand to foreign countries that VV Mineral Mining has been facing. The office premises of VV Mineral Vaikundarajan at Keeraikaaranthattu near Thisaiyanvilai were raided by the police in the same context.
VV Mineral Vaikundarajan has been running the company for almost two decades. Any such accusations have never been laid on the company before, he says.
Madras High court upheld its decision made by the state government to ban mining in the South. The government banned mining in August 2013 in respect of two companies involved in the alleged scam.
Petitions were filed by two companies - Transworld Garnet India Private Ltd and VV Mineral Mining, a company represented by its Managing Partner and founder S Vaikundarajan.
The petitions appeared before Justice T Raja who appointed a new inquiry committee headed by retired High Court Judge, Justice Vinod Kumar Sharma, to probe into the matter and reach a fair conclusion.
Furthermore, the orders of the government were held invalid by the judge. In respect to the inspection report submitted by the earlier committee headed by IAS officer Gagandeep Singh Bedi, the judge stated, “They are legally valid and as such the same cannot be disturbed.”
The mining of beach sand has been halted since the orders were issued. Justice Raja concluded that Gagandeeep Singh Bedi was likely to be biased and prejudiced against the companies and should not have been the chairperson of the special committee. He further said that the IAS Officer may have heard the company’s business rivals such as Dhayadevadas but refused to extend the same benefit of personal hearing to companies.
“There is every possibility of the officer getting motivated against the companies,” said the judge in reference to VV Mineral’s complaint to National Human Rights Commission leveling harassment allegations against Bedi in 97-98.
According to Mines and Minerals Act of 1957, The beaches of Orissa Sand Complex, Manavalakurichi in Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu, have been identified as the main monazite bearing area in the country.
It is said that 2.1 million tons of monazite has vanished from the beaches of India since 2014. Most of this blame has been pointed at VV Minerals India, bringing the founder of the company, S Vaikundarajan under the scanner.
While a committee has been put together to investigate the matter; the locals have shown skepticism and requested for a CBI enquiry.
The district collector of Tuticorin, Ashish Kumar, was one of the members looking into the matters. On receiving transfer orders, many pointed out the connection VV Minerals India and the ongoing investigation. Ashish Kumar, however, never even mentioned the link.
There have been several other accusations of illegal beach mining against VV Minerals. However, no proof has been submitted by the accuser to back the allegations. VV Mineral Vaikundarajan, who set up the business in late 90s, insists that his company is not involved in any illegal activities.
He has openly supported the investigating committee and assures that the result will be in their favor.
