THE MINERAL INDUSTRY OF INDIA 
price of electric-cable-grade ingot was raised from $1,550 per ton to $1,781
per ton and commercial grade from $1,532 per ton to $1,715 per ton. 
 Chromite..—The Orissa Mining Corp.. (OMC) has been issued a Letter
of Intent by the State of Orissa to construct a 50,000-tonper-year charge
chrome plant at a cost of approximately $33 million. Two groups have submitted
bids but the contractor had not been selected at yearend 1979. The plant
would be based on a feedstock of chrome ore fines and would be primarily
geared for export, but about 15,000 tons per year would be diverted to the
Durgapur alloy steel plant which is to be modified to accept charge chrome.

 Proposals for establishing two more 50,000-ton-per-year charge chrome plants
have been made. One, by the Ferroalloys Corp., based on technology developed
in their own works at Garividi; will probably be approved. The second application
was made by Indian Metals and Ferroalloys Ltd., also for location in Orissa.
This project was in the early stages of planning. 
 The primary reason for the new interest in the chromite processing industry
has been the changing reserves picture. Based on several years of GSI and
MEC intensive field work, proved chromite reserves now total 60 million tons
of over 30% Cr203 ore or roughly twice the previous estimate. About 80% of
the new reserves are concentrated in the Sukinda area of Cuttack District,
10% in neighboring Dhenkanai'District, and 10% in Keonjhar District of Orissa.
Breakdown by grade was not yet available, but a large percentage of the new
reserves was in the form of fines. The inventory by GSI and MEC was continuing
at yearend 1979. When completed it was expected that the reserves figure
will exceed 100 million tons. The increase in the reserves tonnage was due
in large part to changing specifications of what was considered usable ore.
Production of charge chrome allows a lower chromium content, lower chromium-iron
ratio, and use of smaller particle sizes. 
 Indian chromite production, 90% of which came from the mines in Orissa,
declined in value from $20 million in 1977 to $16 million in 1978. This was
attributed to a slowdown in iron and steel production in the country as well
as recessionary conditions in the international market which adversely affected
exports. Production in 1979 was believed to have increased slight- 
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ly. Chromite exports in 1978-79 were at the lowest level since 1969. The
slump was attributed chiefly to a cutback in. Japanese steel production which
accounts for 90% of Indian chromite exports. Because of this, India has attempted
to deversify its export market. During the past year some ore was shipped
to Western Europe and a small amount to China on a trial basis. 
 According to the GOI 1979-80 Export Policy, high-grade lump ore containing
40% Cr203 or more continued to be banned for export, while concentrate produced
from beneficiation of low-grade ore continued to be exempted to encourage
export of lowgrade chromite. 
 Copper.—During 1978 and 1979 copper demand outstripped production
by a wide margin. Production was off substantially in 1978 then made a modest
recovery in 1979. As a result of the lower production, imports of copper
metal. increased considerably in 1978 and their cost increased to $55 million
from $31 million in 1977. India's major suppliers were Zambia with 24,000
tons followed by the Federal Republic of Germany 12,000 tons, and Tanzania
3,000 tons. For FY1978-79, MMTC which contracts for most of India's imports,
reportedly contracted for 83,000 tons of copper compared with over 35,000
in the previous year. This increase was designed in part to rebuild inventories.
As~ of March 1979, MMTC's stocks were only about 20,000 tons. Because of
underutilization of capacity and continuing problems at the Khetri complex,
production cost during 1978 exceeded the price of imported metal. 
 Production at the Khetri smelter ran below 40% of its rated capacity in
both 1978 and 1979. Various problems have plagued the Khetri complex since
its completion in late 1974. Latest of the troubles were a 53day strike which
closed the plant until April 20, 1978, a 4-month closing during 1978 while
technical improvements were being made, and an 80-day closing beginning in
August 1979 because of recurring problems with the flash smelter furnace.
Compounding the smelter problems has been a lower than anticipated copper
content in the ore from the mines supplying the concentrator. These have
been running about 0.6% Cu instead of the 1.0% as planned. 
 To improve recovery and production of copper, plans call for installation
of balancing facilities at both the existing smelters and upgrading of the
concentrate treated at