NMDC commissions 2 MTPA pellet plant in Nagarnar

State-owned NMDC has commissioned a 2 million tonne per annum (MTPA) pellet plant in Nagarnar, Chhattisgarh, as part of a ₹5,427-crore integrated iron ore processing, pipeline and pellet making project connecting its iron ore operations in Bacheli with the company’s steel plant in Nagarnar.

The project includes a new iron ore processing plant in Bacheli, a 15 MTPA slurry pipeline besides the 2 MTPA pellet plant. The 135 km slurry pipeline carries processed iron ore concentrate from Bacheli to Nagarnar, providing an alternative to transporting the material by road, the company said on Sunday.

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 Bacheli operations and Nagarnar, NMDC said.

The facilities will enable NMDC to process iron ore fines and slimes from its Bailadila mines into concentrate and subsequently convert them into pellets. The pellet plant uses Straight Grate Induration technology to produce pellets for use in steelmaking. The first production from the pellet plant was monitored live from NMDC’s headquarters by Chairman and Managing Director Amitava Mukherjee and the company’s senior leadership.

“This has not been an easy project to execute. It involved the processing facilities, the actual slurry pipeline and the pellet plant. Today is a red-letter day… when our collective dream is coming true,” Mr.Mukherjee said in a release.

NMDC said the commissioning strengthens its presence across the iron ore value chain, from mining and beneficiation to slurry transportation and pellet production. It also adds a new value-added product to the company’s portfolio and allows it to make greater use of iron ore fines and slimes generated from its Bailadila operations.

The project is part of the company’s broader expansion and diversification strategy, particularly as it eyes raising iron ore production capacity to 100 million tonnes in the long term.