“NMDC will increase production by more than 50% in three to four years.”

Iron ore mining showed a sharp growth on a yearly basis in FY21 on the back of robust demand from the steel sector due to the sharp recovery in domestic as well as global demand. And NMDC was well-positioned to take advantage of it. Despite Donimalai mine remaining shut and heavy rains hampering mining activities in Chhattisgarh, the state-owned miner was able to post significant growth in operations in FY21. And with the resumption in mining at Donimalai, 10 mtpa of upcoming beneficiation facilities and with new reforms in mining rules, NMDC is set for brighter days ahead. Sumit Deb, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of NMDC spoke to Ritwik Sinha of Steel Insights on various opportunities for capacity enhancement and efficiency improvements.

- Ritwik Sinha

NMDC has decided to prioritise its operational capabilities and strategies for better performance. What exactly are the strategies that are in your mind?

We are committed to retain our position as the leading iron ore miner in the country. We have set a target to increase the production capacity from 36 million tons a year in FY21 to 67 million tons a year by FY25 through expansion of the existing mines and acquisition of new green/brownfield projects.

Odisha and Jharkhand are the target states for acquisition of new projects considering that the two states lie in the vicinity of a zone that contributes to more than 40 percent of the total crude steel capacity of the country. NMDC envisages to increase production from existing mines through technology, process improvement and infrastructure development.

We are already in the process of infrastructure development to achieve the target such as construction of additional screening and crucial plants to increase the processing capacity, installation of Rapid Wagon Loading System to increase loading capacity and construction of slurry pipeline and doubling of rail line between its project location to nearest port to increase the evacuation capacity.

NMDC has already commenced its journey in technology & process improvement and implemented solutions across exploration and resource estimation, mining operations and administration.