India’s largest iron ore producer NMDC reported a record 45.1 million tonne production and 44.48 MT sales in the fiscal ended March 31, 2024.
The State-owned miner said It had become the first mining company in the country to cross the 45 MT mark – on its best ever yearly physical performance. Compared with the previous fiscal, when it had clocked 40.82 MT iron ore production and sold 38.22 MT, the output is 10% higher and sales 16% more.
Barring March when both output at 4.86 MT (5.60 MT) and sales at 3.96 (4.84 MT) were lower and in February when the output slid to 3.92 (4.48 MT), NMDC had posted higher monthly production and sales in the rest of the fiscal.
“Crossing 45 MT has truly honoured and enriched the NMDC legacy. We have navigated the rigours of the industry, built upon our technical and digital strength, fortified financial resilience and worked tirelessly to achieve this goal,” CMD (additional charge) Amitava Mukherjee said on Monday.
On the way forward, he said NMDC’s compass points north – toward innovation, sustainability, shared purpose and a 100 MT strong future. The company’s shares on Monday closed 5.4% higher at ₹212.60 apiece on the BSE.
During the fiscal, ended Sunday, Kirandul and Bacheli in Chhattisgarh and Donimalai in Karnataka, the major iron ore mines of the company, delivered their highest-ever annual production. The bottlenecks in pellet production were resolved leading to the company’s peak volume of 2.65 lakh tonnes pellet production, the company said.
Elaborating on the other highlights of FY24, NMDC said the capital expenditure at ₹2,014 crore was 14% more than the target of ₹1,769 crore and in line with the emphasis on capacity building.
Mining diamond
The company said following necessary permissions from the Supreme Court and the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) it had resumed mining operations at its diamond mining project in Panna, Madhya Pradesh during FY24.
