Sandur Manganese and Iron Ores Limited (SMIOL) was incorporated in 1954 as a Private Limited Company to take over and develop manganese mines at Deogiri near Sandur, and was converted into a Public Limited Company on 29 July, 1964 to establish an electro-metallurgical industry at Vyasanakere near Hospet. Led by S Y Ghorpade, the Promoter, Company is engaged in mining of manganese and iron ores in Deogiri Village of Sandur Taluk, Bellary District, Karnataka. The Company is also engaged in manufacturing of ferro alloys, coke and energy located at Vyasanakere, Hosapete.
SMIOL has set up a separate electronics division for the manufacture of dot matrix printers with Japanese collaboration and a software division for the development of advanced software systems and training. The company produces about 3 lac tpa of manganese ore through open cast mining. In 1968, SMIOL established its metal and ferro-alloy plant near Hospet with 15-MVA electric reduction furnace for production of pig iron. Subsequently, it added two more furnaces and later started producing ferro manganese.
Other group companies are Sandur Investment, Sandur Financial Services, Sandur Laminates, etc. In Jan.'94, SMIOL came out with a rights issue of 18.75 lac equity shares (premium : Rs 35) aggregating Rs 8.44 cr to part-finance the Rs 60-cr 100% EOU project for 1.35 mln sq mtr pa of copper clad laminates in technical collaboration with West Coast Enterprises, US.SMIOL has set up a captive generation capacity of 130 mln units P.a in the 30-MW mini hydel project, and set up a pilot plant designed for beneficiation of 15,000 tonnes of C grade ore and to produce 5000 tpa of ferro manganese grade sinter.
The Company has been declared sick by BIFR and IDBI was appointed as Operating Agency during 1999-2000.
The Company's Third Unit of Hydel Power Project and Fourth Unit was commissioned in April, 2001.
Sandur Fluid Controls Ltd ceased to be SMIORE's subsidiary Company in 2003-04. The Hemavathy Left Bank Canal Hydel Plant at Gorur, Hassan was sold in March 2004 to Hemavathy Power & Light Private Limited (HPLPL) as part of the Company's efforts to raise funds for its rehabilitation.
During FY 2008-09, the resultant of 1,95,00,000 equity shares allotted by Star Metallics and Power Private Limited (SMPPL) on 25 October 2008, SMPPL became the subsidiary of Company. SMPPL's 2 MW captive thermal power plant situated at Vyasanakere, in Bellary District was commissioned in FY 2009-10. The Company's mining operations resumed from 25 January 2013.
In 2018, the Company embarked on an ambitious Coke Oven expansion project, which commissioned in FY 2021.
Coke Oven Plant operations of Batteries 1 & 2 was commissioned in January 2020. The new 24 MVA furnace was commissioned in March 2020. During FY 2019-20, Star Metallics and Power Private Limited (SMPPL) (Transferor Company) was merged with Sandur Manganese & Iron Ores Limited (SMIORE)/ (Transferee Company) w.e.f. 01 April 2019. Resulting to the said Amalgamation, the holding of 7,52,40,000 shares constituting 80.58 % of the issued, subscribed and paid up share capital in SMPPL stood cancelled and SMPPL ceased to be a subsidiary of Company.
The Stage I of the Iron and Steel (I&S) Project, which comprised of a 0.4 MTPA Coke Oven Plant (COP), 30 MW Waste Heat Recovery Boiler (WHRB) and Repair & Refurbishment of Ferroalloy Plant implemented got commissioned in FY 2020-21.
The Company embraced progress and innovation, expanding capacities for Silico Manganese and Ferro Manganese (SiMn/ FeMn) to 95,000/ 1,25,000 TPA from 48,000/ 66,000 TPA in 2022.
Pursuant to the Share Subscription and Shareholders' Agreement entered with Renew Green Energy Solutions Private Limited and Renew Sandur Green Energy Private Limited (RSGEPL), the Company subscribed to 49% of the paid-up equity share capital in RSGEPL, thereby making it an associate company in 2023.
33 MW Solar Power Plant and 9.9 MW Wind Turbine Generators with associated electrical equipment's interconnecting the power with Karnataka Power Transmission Corporation Limited (KPTCL) grid was commissioned at Kudligi Taluk, in Karnataka in 2023.
During the year 2022-23, Company incorporated Sandur Pellets Private Limited as a Wholly Owned Subsidiary Company effective on May 7, 2022 by subscribing to 100% of its share capital. Additionally, 42.9 MW renewable hybrid solar & wind energy project in collaboration with ReNew Sandur Green Energy Private Limited was commissioned on June 13, 2023.