MMTC Limited (MMTC) was incorporated on 26th September 1963. The Company is one of the two highest foreign exchange earners for India and a leading International Trading House. The Company has 6 Regional Offices at various places and a wholly owned subsidiary MMTC Transnational Pte Ltd., at Singapore. It has promoted various joint ventures like Neelanchal Ispat Nigam Ltd., MMTC PAMP India Pvt. Ltd., TM Mining Company Ltd., SICAL Iron Ore Terminal Ltd., Free Trade Warehousing Pvt. Ltd., Indian Commodity Exchange Ltd. etc. following the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) route.
The Company is a Mini-Ratna Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) under the administrative control of Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India and has 9 Regional Offices at various places in India and a wholly owned subsidiary MMTC Transnational Pte Ltd, at Singapore. A 'Five Star Export House' status company is engaged in export and trading of Minerals, import of Precious Metals, Non-ferrous metals, Coal & Hydro Carbons, Fertilizers, Agro products and domestic sale of Sanchi Branded silver products, India Gold Coin, Gold Medallions etc. It also deals in Engineering products, has Joint Ventures in steel, retailing, free trade warehousing and commodity exchanges etc. Its trade activities span across various countries in Asia, Europe, Africa, Middle East, Latin America and USA.
The Company had commenced its operation on 1st October 1963 of the incorporation year itself. MMTC made a foray into European market with the exports of one lakh tonnes of iron ore to Slovakia and Romania in the year of 1994. Also in the same year, the company had commenced import of gold and silver against special import license for supply to the customers in the domestic area. The wholly owned subsidiary MMTC Transnational Pte Ltd, Singapore was incorporated under the control of company in the year 1994. During the year 1995, MMTC opened a duty-free jewellery show room at Sahar International Port and a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Government of Orissa for development of existing Gopalpur minor port into a all-weather, deep water and direct berthing port. In the same year, Board for Industrial & Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) had approved the scheme of merger-cum-amalgamation of Mica Trading Corporation of India Limited (MITCO) with MMTC.
From the year 1996 onwards, the company started to import the Chemical items and Homeopathic Medicines. MMTC had signed a MoU with the Department of Commerce under Ministry of Commerce and Industry during the year 2001 for its various applications. The Company had opened a new outlet at Thiruvananthapuram as a duty free business in the year of 2002 and also in the same year unveiled a new line of silverware, Sanchi-Silver in Style. During the year 2003, MMTC had acquired Rs.800 crore deals from Japanese and South Korean companies for the supply of iron ore. In the identical year of 2003, the joint venture with the Orissa government namely Neelchal Ispat Nigam Ltd was emerged as the second largest exporter of pig iron from the country.
The Company was ranked in Trading Sector by Business Standard in their publication BS 1000 'India's Corporate Giants' released in December 2006 and also noted as Top Company in the trading sector for the D&B by coveted American Express Corporate Award 2006. MMTC bagged a gold trophy for top Exporter for the Year 2006-07 in Merchant Exporter category by Engineering Export Promotion Council of India (EEPC) and also CAPEXIL highest export award for highest export of minerals for the year 2006-07, (16th time in a row). The 15 MW wind farms of the company were commissioned in March of the year 2007 at Karnataka. In The year 2007, MMTC had received government approval for acquiring an equity stake in the consortium, which has undertaken the project for construction of a permanent iron ore-loading berth at Ennore to decongest Chennai port.
Aiming at diversification and with a view to add value to its existing trading operations, the company has undertaken various strategic initiatives during the year 2007-08 following public- private partnership route, effectively integrating vertically, both backwards and forwards, to encompass the entire gamut of the product process starting from the stage of manufacture and ending with distribution to the ultimate consumer. The Company had inked an agreement with Swiss metal company PAMP to set up a gold refinery in Sohna during March of the year 2008.
In the year 2009, the company had promoted a Commodity Exchange under the name and style of 'Indian Commodity Exchange Limited' which commenced operations in November 2009. The company has participated in the equity of a Currency Futures Exchange under the name and style of 'United Stock Exchange of India Ltd.' The said Currency Futures Exchange which commenced its operations in September, 2010.
MMTC is the largest importer of gold and silver in the Indian sub continent, handling about 174 MT of gold and 1165 MT of silver during 2011-12. MMTC supplies gold on loan and outright basis to the exporter, bullion dealers and jewellery manufacturers on all India basis. MMTC has retail jewellery & its own branded Sterling Silverware (Sanchi) showrooms in all the major metro cities of India. MMTC also supplies branded hallmarked gold and studded jewellery. Assay and hallmarking units have been set up at New Delhi, Ahmedabad , Kolkata & Jaipur for testing the purity of gold and gold articles duly accredited with Bureau of Indian Standards.
During the year 2012-13, Govt. of India, the promoter of the company holding 99.33% of the total equity capital as on 31.3.2013 divested its 9.33% equity through 'Offer for Sale' of shares through stock exchange mechanism pursuant to SEBI guidelines in this regard. The said OFS issue was made by the Govt through stock exchange platform at NSE and BSE on 13th June, 2013 thereby reducing Govt. of India's equity to 90% of the total paid up equity of the company.
During the year 2014, MMTC exported wheat to buyers in South Korea, Bangladesh, Philippines, and Africa etc. Imports of edible oils were made primarily from Malaysia and Indonesia, for meeting the Public Distribution System (PDS) requirements of State Governments and also for private industry. Supplies of Edible Oil were organized at request of State Governments for distribution through PDS.
During the year 2014-15, MMTC and TATA Steel Ltd have set up a Joint Venture company namely 'TM Mining Company Ltd.' for mining, exploration and allied activities. It has obtained certificate for commencement of operations.
During FY 2015, the Company tied up with Indian Overseas Bank to sell Indian Gold Coin through its branches upon approval from Reserve Bank of India.
During FY 2016-17, Neelachal Ispat Nigam Limited (NINL) signed MOU with National Aluminium Company (NALCO) for setting up of Coal Tar Pitch Plant.
During FY 2016-17, MMTC has imported approx 3.4888 lakh MT of various pulses like toor, urad, masur and chana for the buffer stock programme. These pulses are being stored at various port godowns and are being released to State Government Agencies and open market as per the advice of Department of Consumer Affairs, Govt. of India.
In FY 2021, the Company formed its wholly owned subsidiary in Singapore, MMTC Transnational Pte. Ltd. (MTPL) to tap the South East Asian market for trading in commodities. As on March 31st ,2021 the Company presently holds 6% equity capital in its joint venture, Indian Commodity Exchange Limited (ICEX). The Company had participated in the equity of Currency Futures Exchange under the name, 'United Stock Exchange of India Ltd.', and was merged with 'BSE Limited' (BSE). Since the Company's JV, M/s. TATA Steel Ltd. was not able to generate business, its name was struck off from the Register of Companies and the said Company dissolved effective from October 28th, 2021. During 2020-21, Company supplied 8.18 lac MTs of imported steam coal valued at Rs.488.81 Crores to Andhra Pradesh Power Development Co. Ltd.