Hyderabad, Sept. 27 -- 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 of iron ore processing, pipeline and pellet making, connecting its iron ore operations at Bacheli with its steel plant at Nagarnar.
The project comprises a new iron ore processing plant at Bacheli, a 15 MTPA slurry pipeline and the 2 MTPA pellet plant at Nagarnar. The 135 km slurry pipeline carries processed iron ore concentrate from Bacheli to Nagarnar, providing an alternative to transporting the material by road.
Maiden production from the pellet plant was monitored live from NMDC's headquarters by Chairman and MD Amitava Mukherjee and senior leadership, as adverse weather prevented them from travelling to the project site.
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 using Straight Grate Induration technology.
"Today 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," Mukherjee said. The commissioning strengthens NMDC's presence across the iron ore value chain and adds a value-added product to its portfolio. The pipeline passes through 61 villages in Bastar and Dantewada districts, reducing road movement of processed ore and dependency on Railways.
The project is part of NMDC's broader expansion & diversification strategy to increase its iron ore output capacity to 100 million tonnes in the long term.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.