C. KAMANI METALS AND ALLOYS LTD.

The financial year of this company was from January to December. By preparing the accounts and balance sheet for one and a half years the accounting year was changed to July to June. After this in the year 1964-’65, it made a profit of Rs. 49 lakhs, 32 thousand.

The Central Government decided that sheets and strips of copper, zinc, etc. would not be supplied to the non ferrous metal industry to manufacture large vessels, so the total production in the next year only increased by 2%, which of course is really very little. In addition, although they received foreign exchange for consignments of raw material based on the previous year’s production, the price of raw material, especially the price of copper was very high internationally, so with this amount of foreign exchange they could only purchase a much smaller quantity of the raw material. Despite this by using scrap material and goods from the market they were able to increase the production by 2% over that of the previous year.  

The same problems also impeded the export of goods. The highly priced indigenous goods could not compete everywhere in the international market. As a result exports dropped by 60% as compared to the previous year.

In the meantime, the machines that had been ordered to diversify the production were set up and put into operation, as a result of which there was a definite possibility of increasing the output.   

After the death of Shri Ramjibhai, another director of the company, Shri. H.D. Hiranandani, passed away on the 16^th October.

In 1965-66 the profit made was over Rs. 44 lakhs, 27 thousand.

Since they were considering issuing bonus shares, it was not possible to give any dividend.

Even though the difficulties remained the same as in the previous year, the exports increased by 17% as compared to those in the earlier year. With the devaluation of the Rupee in June, 1966, the government cancelled all the incentives that had been given to encourage exports. As a result this company had to totally stop the export of goods.

In the year 1966-67 the profit was Rs. 36 lakhs, 44 thousand. However, during the whole year procurement of raw material remained uncertain. So the Indian Non Ferrous Metal Manufacturers’ Association, which had been established by the Late Ramjibhai, put forward a general petition before the Central Government, regarding the supply of these goods. They hoped that the government would accept the original petition, or at least agree to it with a few changes. This year the exports dropped by almost 57%.

As soon as all the machines that had been ordered to diversify the production were set up and put into operation, the company showed good progress in the production of spring brass, used in telecommunications and the production of nickel silver. In addition since the plans for manufacturing steel strips were also going ahead it would be possible to obtain a licence for this activity, shortly.

In 1967, Ramjibhai’s younger brother Shri Girdharlal Kamani passed away on April 28^th and his former assistant, Shri Zaverchand Panachand Mehta on September 17^th. These two gentlemen had been directors of the company for the last two decades.

During the last few years the profit of the company had been decreasing. This trend continued and in 1967-’68 the company had to bear a loss of Rs. 15 lakhs, 82 thousand. Naturally there were many reasons for this deficit: Firstly, was the uncertainty in the procurement of raw material. Secondly, during the period from October 1966 to March 1967, there was no raw material at all. Thirdly, despite repeated requests to the Central Government, which had been presented in different ways, there had been no proper allotment of foreign exchange. Over and above this the consignment of material allotted to the company during the period from April to September of this year, was delivered only in November 1967. Now the only way to keep the factory running would be to purchase costly scrap from the market and continue production.

In addition to these main causes, there were many other small reasons for the loss incurred. There was a severe depression in the engineering industry. Due to this the demand for the goods produced had decreased a great deal, so the profits made from the sale of goods also declined. As if this wasn’t enough, during this year there was a strike in the factory that lasted for 46 days, which severely affected the factory’s production.

Even so, despite the wave of depression in the country, the company put in extra efforts to increase exports, and this year there was a noticeable rise in the quantity of material exported as compared to the decrease experienced last year. Just like other industries, the non ferrous metal industry, applied for monetary relief from the government, both directly and indirectly, i.e. through its association, but did not meet with any success, and there was no definite outcome.

As a result of the expansion plans, spring brass was now being manufactured on a large scale. In addition, the factory also started producing copper strips used in co-axial cables.

On 10^th February, 1968, Ramjibhai’s youngest son-in-law, Shri Dineshbahi Shah, the son of Himchandbhai of Jivanlal (1929), joined the firm as a director.

The year 1968-69 turned out to be very bright for the company’s future. The previous year’s loss of Rs. 15 lakhs, 82 thousand was completely cleared and the company showed a profit of Rs. 23 lakhs, 8 thousand.

As the country started to become financially prosperous, the working capacity of the company also improved proportionally. The output increased by 39% over that in the previous year and the exports also rose by 55% as compared to the earlier year. It was decided to increase the company’s capital from Rs. 1 crore to Rs. 2 crores. A loan of Rs. 90 lakhs was taken from the Industrial Finance Corporation to set up a division in Bangalore for the manufacture of steel strips.

In the year 1969-70, the profit fell slightly and dropped to Rs. 14 lakhs, 55 thousand. On the other hand permission was obtained from the government to issue bonus shares worth Rs. 22 lakhs.

In comparison with last year the output increased by 12% and one way or another, they were able to make firm inroads in exporting goods to the far east and establish themselves on a firm footing.

As more and more new products were manufactured, steps were also taken to improve their quality and good progress was made in this direction. In addition they also succeeded in reducing the costs of production.

Dr. Suresh Shrivastav and Sir Dattarsingh were taken on as directors on 24.2.70 and 3.11.70 respectively.