OMC to soon appoint executant for iron ore project

The state owned Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC) hopes to finalise the executant agency for its proposed Rs 350 crore mechanised mining, transportation and wagon loading facility at the Daitari mines in next six months.

It is a standalone project for mechanised production and despatch of 2.5 million tonne of iron ore per annum (mtpa). The project, tipped to be instrumental in raising the production capacity of the Daitari mines from 3 mtpa at present to 6 mtpa, will be implemented on Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis.

Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PWC) has been appointed as the transaction consultant for the project which is targeted to be completed in 3 years.

“M N Dastur & Co has been roped in as technical consultant and the executant of the project may be selected in next six months”, Saswat Mishra, managing director, OMC told Business Standard.

The Project Approval Committee (PAC) of the Orissa government headed by the chief secretary has approved the project including any escalation of cost. OMC is now waiting for the final nod of the government, sources said. This is the second project to be taken up by the state owned mining company at its Daitari mines to raise the iron ore handling capacity. Daitari mine, well connected by rail and road, has the potential to augment its production from 3 million tonne per annum at present to about 6 million tonne. While the mines owned by OMC has an estimated iron ore reserves of about 85 million tonnes, there is possibility of additional reserves of about 50 million tonne.