NMDC invests Rs 1,222 crore to set up Nagarnar steel plant

State-run iron ore miner NMDC has invested Rs 1,222.65 crore till September 2016 to set up a 3 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) integrated steel plant in Nagarnar in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh.

The plant is expected to start trial production by mid-2017.

The company has completed capital expenditure of Rs 1,434.55 crore till September 2016, of which Rs 1,222.65 crore has been invested in Nagarnar steel plant, Rs 17.39 crore on pallet plant at Donimalai, Rs 75 crore in doubling of KK lines, Rs 7.21 crore on Kumarswamy Mine and Rs 4.76 crore in Bailadilla Deposits, the company said in a corporate presentation here.

NMDC has carried out pioneering exploration activity for developing iron ore mines in Karnataka in various regions like Kudremukh, Donimalai, Bababudan, Kumaraswamy and Ramandurg, it added.

NMDC developed the Donimalai mine in this area to export ore to Japan and South Korea.

The company has also committed contribution of Rs 35 crore to joint ventures (JVs) and associates and Rs 72.50 crore in other schemes towards addition, modification and replacement of existing assets, it said.

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The Bailadila Deposit-4, which has mineable iron ore of around 108 MT, will entail an investment of around Rs 1,900 crore.

The Chhattisgarh government and NMDC have inked an MoU for a slurry pipeline from Bailadila to Nagarnar, along with ore processing plants at Bailadila and a 2-MTPA pellet plant at Nagarnar with an investment of Rs 4,000 crore.

NMDC said that its turnover increased marginally to Rs 3,460 crore in the first half (H1) of FY17 as compared to Rs 3,409 crore in the same period last year.

The net profit, however, decreased by 19 per cent to Rs 1,482 crore in H1 FY17 from Rs 1,892 crore in the same period last year.

The company said it has successfully completed its share buyback offer of 80,08,25,526 equity shares at Rs 94 for an aggregate consideration of Rs 7,527 crore.

Following the buyback offer, the equity share capital stands reduced to Rs 316.39 crore, it added.