THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, OCT. 14. The Travancore Titanium Products would set up an effluent treatment plant along with a product diversification and production enhancement project within the deadline set by the Kerala High Court, the managing director, Eapen Joseph, has said.
Mr. Joseph said here today that the Division Bench of the High Court had granted 30 months on October 17, 2003, to check water pollution and the company would expedite steps to complete it within the next 20 months.
Following the Kerala State Pollution Control Board order to close down the factory, the company has decided to move the High Court on Friday seeking to complete the project within the time granted by the court. To cut down the cost, it has been decided to split the project into different packages, he said.
The company manufacturing Titanium Dioxide cannot be closed down even for a short duration. Though notable strides have been made in production and marketing, if the company goes ahead with the installation of the effluent treatment plant alone, it would lead to a financial crisis. Hence, all the three projects should be taken up simultaneously.
The company had set up a sulphuric acid plant spending Rs. 28 crores and modernised the existing plant to check air pollution. A dumping pit was set up for disposing hazardous solid waste. The Pollution Control Board had approved all these steps taken to check air pollution and solid waste disposal.
Though the Supreme Court Monitoring Committee on Hazardous Wastes had visited the capital, the management did not get the opportunity to convince the committee about the steps taken to control and pollution in a phased manner.
Now, either the board or the committee should monitor the progress in implementing the projects, he said. The company has lost its monopoly in Titanium pigment trade with the opening up of the market.
Though the Titanium pigment is being sold at Rs.66,000 per tonne, the company is striving hard to face the competition. Any increase in production cost will lead to an increase in the pigment price too. The production target for the year is 18,000 tonnes.
If the functioning is disrupted it would be difficult to achieve the target and a re-entry to the market would be a tough proposition, he said. The company has paid sales tax worth Rs. 300 crores to the Government since 1977 and the reserves deposited in the treasury were used to help sick PSUs.
