NMDC to up Bailadilla iron ore dispatches

State-owned National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), which has been excavating superior grade iron ore from Bailadilla mines for the last several years, is planning to increase its iron ore dispatches from the mines by about 14 lakh tonnes in the current fiscal.

Besides, as part of its expansion plans, the corporation has decided to open a couple of new iron ore blocks at Bailadilla mines.

"NMDC dispatched 173 lakh tonnes of iron ore from Bailadilla mines last fiscal. In the current year, it plans to dispatch around 187 lakh tonnes. During the first half of the current fiscal, NMDC dispatched close to 78.5 lakh tonnes of ore to its customers, an increase of 4 lakh tonnes as compared to the last fiscal's corresponding period," an NMDC senior official told Business Standard.

NMDC currently supplies Bailadilla iron ore mainly to state-owned MMTC Limited, Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), Hy-grade Pellets, Ispat Industries Limited, Vikram Ispat limited and few other small steel companies.

It supplied about 29 lakh tonnes of iron ore to VSP, 21.15 lakh tonnes to Hy-grade Pellets, 4.84 lakh tonnes to Ispat Industries Limited, 2.54 lakh tonnes to Vikram Ispat Limited and 3.15 lakh tonnes to small steel companies during the first half of the current fiscal.

In the current year up to the end of September, MMTC has taken around 17.82 lakh tonnes of Bailadilla ore for exporting to Japan.

According to the NMDC official, there has been a significant demand for additional quantities of Bailadilla iron ore from VSP and Hy-grade Pellets. "Owing to this demand, we are increasing the production at Bailadilla mines," he said.

"Accordingly, iron ore requirements of VSP and Hy-grade Pellets will be increased by 40-50 lakh tonnes in the next couple of years," he added.

Under the yearly contracts signed between NMDC and other ore takers, NMDC agreed to supply 44.9 lakh tonnes of iron ore to MMTC Limited, 62 lakh tonnes to VSP, 50 lakh tonnes to Hy-grade Pellets, 12.84 lakh tonnes to Ispat Industries, 6 lakh tonnes to Vikram Ispat Limited and 12.13 lakh tonnes of iron ore to domestic small steel units from Bailadilla mines.

"Keeping this demand in mind, NMDC has decided to open a couple of more ore blocks at Bailadilla and is preparing the detailed reports to implement the project," the official said.