By Sujeet Kumar, IANS,
Raipur : The state-owned National Mineral Development Corp (NMDC), India’s largest iron ore producer and exporter, will begin construction of a Rs.17,000-crore integrated steel project in Chhattisgarh by the year-end, according to Chief Minister Raman Singh.
The plant, with an annual capacity of three million tonnes, will come up over 995 acres in the Nagarnar area in Bastar district, 300 km south of state capital Raipur.
“NMDC will start construction by November-December and work will pick up in full swing by mid-2010. From then, it will take 36 months to begin production of flat steel and HR (hot rolled) coils,” the chief minister told IANS.
Singh said the project is critical to the development of an impoverished Bastar, where the state government hopes to expand infrastructure to counter Maoist insurgents who hold sway in forested interiors.
A senior NMDC official said the water required for steel production will be brought from Sabri river, 32 km from the project site.
The steel project needs a little over 5.5 million tonnes of iron ore annually, which will be sourced from NMDC’s Bailadila deposits from the neighbouring Dantewada district, about 120 km from the plant.
NMDC produced a little over 28.50 million tonnes of iron ore in the 2008-09 fiscal year, with the Bailadila mines accounting for some 80 percent of the output.
The official said the company would not set up a captive power plant, and will instead purchase electricity from the Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Co.
Coal will imported via the nearest port city of Visakhapatnam, some 300 km away from the plant site.