NMDC to fast-track projects, raise output: CMD

Raipur, Sep 19: NMDC Ltd, India's largest iron ore miner, will fast-track several key under-implementation projects to substantially increase iron ore production and shipment, said the Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the Navratna public sector enterprise.


"NMDC has a huge pool of skilled manpower as well as technical expertise and the company will now fast-track all its ongoing projects, including earlier commissioning of a 3 MTPA Nagarnar integrated steel plant in Bastar (in Chhattisgarh)," N. Baijendra Kumar, who took charge as NMDC's CMD early this month, told IANS.

Kumar, a 1985 batch IAS officer of the Chhattisgarh cadre, said: "NMDC will strive to raise its iron ore output up to 50 MT (million tonne) in fiscal 2017-18. The target is surely highly challenging but achievable."

Kumar, a bureaucrat with over three decades of experience, was Additional Chief Secretary, Industry and Energy, in Chhattisgarh, where NMDC produces roughly 70 percent of its total iron ore annually, before taking up the present post.

NMDC has several high quality iron ore mines at Bailadila hills in Maoist insurgency-hit Dantewada district. Bailadila hills are made up of the sprawling Bacheli and Kirandul iron ore deposits.

Kumar was among the few bureaucrats in Chhattisgarh who was known for taking quick decisions and time-bound execution of projects. He was always the part of the core team of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh for planning and implementing government's flagship schemes.

Outlining his priorities as CMD, Kumar said: "I know the NMDC from close quarters for a long time. It's very important assignment for me to serve such a reputed company as the CMD. The onus is on me to take it to further heights.

"The focus will be on expansion of existing iron ore mines besides opening more mines in Bailadila hills, some of them will be through joint ventures, to meet the growing demands from domestic and international markets," said the 57-year-old Kumar, who hails from Kerala.