State-owned iron ore miner NMDC will invest Rs 30,071 crore during the 12th Five Year Plan period, which started on April 1 this year, to achieve a production capacity of 50 million tonnes by 2016-17 and establishing steel and other value added plants.
Of this, most of the money will be invested on developing Bailadila iron ore mines in Chhattisgarh and constructing a 3 million tonne steel plant at nearby Nagarnar in the state, a senior company official said, adding that both the projects are scheduled to be commissioned in 2014-15.
"The plan is to expand the iron ore mining capacity to 36 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) by 2014-15 from existing 20 MTPA capacity at Bailadila mines. The steel plant will also be commissioned by then and most of the money will be spent on these two projects," the official said.
Besides, the iron ore miner is also aiming at achieving a production capacity of 7 MTPA at Kuamaraswamy mines in Karnataka by September, 2013 at an investment of Rs 900 crore, the official added.
For the steel plant in Chhattisgarh, the company has awarded most of the contracts and it is in the final stages of awarding contracts for construction of lime and dolomite unit.
The Rs 15,525-crore steel plant will initially produce HR-coils (hot rolled coils) and will be commissioned as per schedule in 2014-15, the official said.
Moreover, NMDC is also looking at commissioning 1.2 MTPA iron ore pellet plant in Karnataka's Donimalai by March next year and starting coal production from its captive mine at Madhya Pradesh's Shahpur by 2014.
The state-owned miner will be funding most of the expansion projects from its huge cash reserves of over Rs 20,000 crore, the official said.
The company, which is on the disinvestment radar of the government, is aiming at over 30 million tonnes iron ore in the current fiscal, almost 20 per cent more than in 2011-12.
However, its plans to set up a 3 MTPA steel plant in Karnataka with Russia's Severstal has not yet materialised as the firms have not agreed on the control for the proposed 50:50 joint venture.
Besides, the company is also looking at some low-cost acquisitions overseas, including a 26 per cent stake purchase in Brazil's Amplus iron ore.