Hindustan Zinc Limited (HZL) is an Indian integrated mining and resources producer of

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...

and

cadmium Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Like zinc, it demonstrates oxidation state +2 in most of ...

. It is a subsidiary of

Vedanta Limited Vedanta Limited is an Indian multinational mining company headquartered in Mumbai, India, with its main operations in iron ore, gold and aluminium mines in Goa, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Odisha. History Sterlite Industries Vedanta (then called ...

. Earlier it was a Central Public Sector Undertaking, sold by

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

when Atal Bihari Vajpayee and

Bharatiya Janta Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

Government was in power in the year 2003. HZL is the world's second largest zinc producer. The company is one of the world's largest integrated producers of zinc and are among leading global lead and silver producers.

History

Hindustan Zinc Limited was incorporated from the erstwhile Metal Corporation of India on 10 January 1966 as a

Public Sector Undertaking A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the government ...

(PSU). In 2001, as part of the Government of India's disinvestment program of loss-making PSUs, the company was put up for sale. In April 2002, Sterlite Opportunities and Ventures Limited (SOVL) made an open offer for acquisition of shares of the company; consequent to the

disinvestment Disinvestment refers to the use of a concerted economic boycott to pressure a government, industry, or company towards a change in policy, or in the case of governments, even regime change. The term was first used in the 1980s, most commonly in ...

's (GOI) stake of 26% including management control to SOVL and acquired additional 20% of shares from public, pursuant to the

SEBI The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the regulatory body for securities and commodity market in India under the ownership of Ministry of Finance within the Government of India. It was established on 12 April 1988 as an executive ...

Regulations 1997. In August 2003, SOVL acquired additional shares to the extent of 18.92% of the paid up capital from GOI in exercise of call option clause in the share holder's agreement between GOI and SOVL. With the above additional acquisition, SOVL's stake in the company went up to 64.92%. Thus GOI's stake in the company now stands at 29.54%. SOVL was merged with Sterlite Industries India Ltd in April 2011. Sterlite Industries merged with Sesa Goa Ltd to form Sesa Sterlite Limited in August 2013. Sesa Sterlite was renamed to Vedanta Limited in April 2015. Hindustan Zinc is now a direct subsidiary of

Operations

Mining

HZL operates the world's third largest

open-pit mine Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock (geology), rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a Borrow pit, b ...

, and the world's largest zinc mine in Rampura Agucha,

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern s ...

. Other mines owned by HZL are located in

Rajpura Rajpura () is a city in Patiala district in the Indian state of Punjab, India, situated along the border of the Indian state of Haryana. It is located 26 KM Patiala city, towards East from District Head Quarter. It is Tehsil Head Quarter. Rajp ...

and Dariba, Sindesar Khurd, Kayar and Zawar, all in Rajasthan. HZL is one of the lowest cost zinc producers in the world.

Smelting

HZL operates Zinc and Lead smelters and refineries at Chanderiya (Chittorgarh), Debari (

Udaipur Udaipur () ( ISO 15919: ''Udayapura''), historically named as Udayapura, is a city and municipal corporation in Udaipur district of the state of Rajasthan, India. It is the administrative headquarter of Udaipur district. It is the historic cap ...

) & Dariba (

Rajsamand Rajsamand is a city, located in Rajsamand district of Rajasthan, western India. The city is named for Rajsamand Lake, an artificial lake created in the 17th century by Rana Raj Singh of Mewar. It is the administrative headquarters of Rajsam ...

) in

with total zinc and lead production capacity of 10 lakh tonnes. A smelting facility was established at

Pantnagar Pantnagar is a town and a university campus in Udham Singh Nagar district, Uttarakhand. Nainital, Kashipur, Rudrapur and Kiccha, Haldwani are the major cities surrounding Pantnagar. The town is home to the first agricultural university of I ...

Uttarakhand Uttarakhand ( , or ; , ), also known as Uttaranchal ( ; the official name until 2007), is a state in the northern part of India. It is often referred to as the "Devbhumi" (literally 'Land of the Gods') due to its religious significance and ...

. It was initially intended to serve as a smelting facility for Silver production, but later Zinc and Lead melting and casting plants were also established here. The total metal production was 8,80,000 tonnes for year 2014–2015. It also has zinc smelter in

Vizag , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura submarine museu ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

, where operations have been suspended since February 2012.

Sports

Zinc Football Academy is an Indian professional football academy club based in Zawar a mining town in

. The club competes in

R-League A Division Rajasthan State Men's League, or R-League A Division, is the top state-level football league in the Indian state of Rajasthan, conducted by Rajasthan Football Association. Inaugural season with 8 participating teams, and concluded on 6 Octobe ...

, the top tier league of the state. The club is owned by Hindustan Zinc Limited Group. Zinc FA is the current champions of R-League Season.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Economy of Udaipur Companies based in New Delhi Vedanta Resources Economy of Rajasthan Zinc mines Formerly government-owned companies of India Mining in Rajasthan Organisations based in Udaipur Mines in India Indian companies established in 1956 1956 establishments in Rajasthan Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange