NMDC aims doubling iron ore mining capacity in 2 years

Company's production stood at 30.4 mn tonne in last financial year

Public sector iron ore company NMDC Limited said it has set an ambitious target of almost doubling the mining capacity to 75 million tonnes in the next two years compared to its current capacity of around 34 million tonnes. The company's production stood at 30.4 million tonne in the last financial year.

"Taking a long-term perspective of the business scenario, NMDC Limited has charted out Vision 2025 that seeks to reorient its business model and strategise effectively to retain its market leadership in the domestic market and also make a mark on the global mining scene to ensure raw material security for Indian industry," Narendra Kothari, chairman and managing director of the company said on the sidelines of a mid-year review of the company business plan.

A key point of NMDC's Vision 2025 is the expansion plan to increase the iron ore mining capacity to 75 million tonnes by 2018-19 and 100 million tonnes by 2021-22, according to a statement issued by the company.

Besides the capacity addition, NMDC's vision document sets the objectives of strengthening exploration and forward-integration through value added business in pellet making and steel and selectively invest abroad based on mining potential and the prevailing business environment, it said.

The company also chalked out a road-map with six strategic areas- business strategy, operations strategy, sustainability, capital projects, human resource and IT- as part of Vision 2025.

"Vision 2025 has been formulated to fortify NMDC against the upcoming challenges and to enable it to emerge more robust.," Kothari said adding that it was their intent to align the operations with the growth of the domestic steel industry.