New Delhi, Sep 28 — As it aims to increase iron ore production capacity to 100 million tonnes in the long term, NMDC Ltd has commissioned its 2 million tonne per annum (MTPA) pellet plant at Nagarnar in Chhattisgarh, as part of a Rs 5,427-crore integrated project, an official statement has said.
This project has iron ore processing, pipeline and pellet making, connecting the company's iron ore operations at Bacheli with the company's steel plant at Nagarnar.
The project includes a new iron ore processing plant at Bacheli, a 15 MTPA slurry pipeline, and the 2 MTPA pellet plant at Nagarnar.
According to Steel Ministry, the 135-km slurry pipeline carries processed iron ore concentrate from Bacheli to Nagarnar, providing an alternative to transporting the material by road.
The facilities will enable NMDC to process iron ore fines and slimes from its Bailadila mines into concentrate and subsequently convert the concentrate into pellets.
The pellet plant uses Straight Grate Induration technology to produce pellets for use in steelmaking, the official statement added.
Amitava Mukherjee, Chairman and Managing Director, NMDC Ltd., said that this is a day of immense pride for everyone at NMDC.
“This has not been an easy project to execute. It involved the processing facilities, the actual slurry pipeline, and the pellet plant. But today is a red-letter day—a day we have been waiting for a long time. This is the day when our collective dream is coming true,” he noted.
The slurry pipeline passes through 61 villages in Bastar and Dantewada districts and is designed to reduce the movement of processed ore by road, provide alternate mode of evacuation and lower dependency on Railways and ensures a dedicated link between NMDC's Bacheli operations and Nagarnar.
The commissioning strengthens NMDC's presence across the iron ore value chain, from mining and beneficiation to slurry transportation and pellet production.