NMDC plans steel plant in Chhattisgarh

Hyderabad: The National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) plans to invest around Rs 23,000 crore in the next six years on various projects, including setting up a greenfield steel plant. The company plans to meet the investments through internal accruals.

“The foundation stone for the three million tonne (mt) steel plant at Nagarnar in Chhattisgarh will be laid on September 3. The projected investment will be around Rs 14,000 crore,” Mr Rana Som, Chairman and Managing Director, NMDC, said.

He added that there could be some upward revision based on the current prices. Environmental clearances for the project are expected by April-May next year after which the plant is expected to be commissioned in 36 months.

The company originally planned to set up a pig iron plant using slimes that it produces as the major input using Romelt technology. “But this could not fructify and we are looking at using HiSmelt technology developed by HiSmelt Corporation Pty of the Rio Tinto Group and talks are in advanced stages,” he said.

The cost of technology is around Rs 1,400 crore and the capacity will be 0.8 MTPA plant.

“NMDC is in the process of setting up a 1.2 mt pellet plant in Donimalai in Karnataka and 2 mt pellet plant in Bacheli with Rs 600 crore and Rs 750 crore respectively. Also, since we want to use the low grade ore from the Donimalai mines, which was until now considered not useful, we are setting up a beneficiation plant with an investment of Rs 200 crore,” Mr Som said.

The company plans to increase the production capacity of Sponge Irone India Ltd (SIIL) in Khammam district from the current 2 lakh tonnes to 10 lakh tonnes in the next 36 months with an investment of around Rs 800 crore. The process of merger of SIIL is expected to be completed by October-November this year.

The company would be investing Rs 4,500 crore for developing three iron ore mines, out of which two are located in Chhattisgarh and one in Karnataka. Among the other investments, NMDC plans to invest Rs 80 crore in its subsidiary company J&K Mineral Development Corporation Ltd for mining of magnesite, Rs 350 crore in its limestone project in Arki, in Himachal Pradesh.