Friday, March 1, 2013

Sanjiv Batra

Chairman, MMTC with jayant mundhra on past, present and future of the company...

One of the mini ratna public sector enterprise Minerals and Metals Trading Corporation of India (MMTC) is not only one of the leading bullion traders in the country, but also recognised as an assaying and hallmarking centre for gold jewellery by the Bureau of Indian Standards. Also, a co-promoter of two of India’s brand new exchanges — Indian Commodity Exchange Limited and United Stock Exchange Limited — MMTC has a track record of uninterrupted profit and dividend payment for the past 40 years. In a bid to woo retail customers of gold and bullions in the country, the comapny has recently tied up with Gitanjali Jewellers for the ‘Festival of Gold’ a jewellery exhibition to showcase quality jewellery. In an exclusive interaction with B&E, Sanjiv Batra, CMD, MMTC, talks about the present trend in the Indian gold market and how the comapny is planning to leverage it. Excerpts:-

B&E: How has been the journey of MMTC since its inception? Are you planning to move ahead?
SB: The company was incorporated in 1963 to regulate the international trade of minerals and metals. From a turnover of Rs. 67.79 crore in the first full year of operations (1964-65), we have grown by leaps and bounds to a turnover of over Rs. 45,000 crore (for financial year 2009-10). At present, we are trying to bring in more machinery to India to produce as many as 356 tonnes of gold and 144 tonnes of silver per year. The journey has been an encouraging one, and indeed we are learning everyday.

B&E: The recent economic turmoil has impacted almost all companies across the globe. How did you manage to sheild yourselves?
SB: Let me tell you about a survey that we did in 2006 in connection with the acceptance of the gold that we were producing. After surveying our distributors, we found that as many as 90% gold sales was heading south. But post-2007, when the economic turmoil hit the market, things started changing in our favour. The economy might have gone down, but the demand and price of gold remained strong throughout the period. Moreover, the upheaveal in the country’s share market encouraged investors further to go for gold as a safe bet. And such a trend in demand was unseeen till last year. However, till March this year, we witnessed 240 million tonne of gold. This trend helped us to grow strong even during the slowdown.

B&E: Does price play a significant role when it comes to gold in a market like India? How are you using the potential of the market?
SB: Gold is always considered as an asset and it is the surging demand that encourages its growth. Besides India, the trend is similar in other countries too. It was only during 1999-2003, when gold prices were unstable. For the past seven years, the prices have gone more on the positive side. Interestingly, this has happened despite many crises happening on the way.

India has always seen a strong demand for gold. If you look at the figures, this year we had to import more gold so as to meet the domestic demand. This clearly indicates that despite trading at a high price level, the passion for acquiring the yellow metal has not received a dent in India. While the gold production in the world is receding, India is showing a complete different scenario. Since our market is internal-driven one, if the Indian consumers are happy then it’s really good for us.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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