The work on construction of a private railway siding for NMDC ltd for its upcoming
3 MTPA steel plant at Nagarnar near Jagdalpur in Bastar district of Chhattisgarh has gathered pace with signalling work for the rail track project expected to begin soon at the site.
IRCON ltd would soon take up the railway signalling work at the site, officials informed. The work for laying of broad guage railway track at the proposed private railway siding of NMDC ltd’s upcoming 3 MTPA integrated steel plant had already begun.
The company is expecting commercial production of its 3 MTPA capacity proposed steel plant in Chhattisgarh to commence by the middle of 2017.
Notably, NMDC achieved iron ore production of 16.60 million tonnes (MT) (provisional) from its mines in Chhattisgarh as on March 31, 2016, the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange in its filing. The company further informed that it achieved sales of 16.40 MT during the aforesaid period.
The NMDC Board at its meeting recently had recommended highest ever 1st interim dividend of 950 percent for the year 2015-16 amounting to Rs 3,766 crore, a company statement had informed.
NMDC which is India’s largest iron ore producer and exporter, has several iron ore mines in leftist insurgency-hit Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh. The mines which have the finest quality of iron ore, are basically located at Kirandul and Bacheli areas which jointly form a sprawling Bailadila hill.
Notably, the Union Steel and Mines Ministry has plans of doubling installed capacity of NMDC ltd’s upcoming 3 MTPA integrated steel plant coming up at Nagarnar in due course once the plant is commissioned.
A decision was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi giving its approval for doubling of Jagdalpur-Koraput section railway line of 110.22 km with a completion cost of Rs 1,839.02 crore.
Doubling of this line will greatly ease the ever increasing freight traffic between these sections thereby increasing the revenue of Railways. The project is likely to be completed in the next seven years during 12th and 13th Plan period, officials stated. Koraput district of Odisha and Bastar district of Chhattisgarh will be benefited through this project, officials stated.
The approved doubling from Jagdalpur to Koraput traverses entirely through the States of Odisha and Chhattisgarh and is necessitated in view of the demand of increasing goods traffic over a period of time due to increase in production of goods and minerals in the vast catchment and consequent transportation requirement.
Notably in May last year, the Centre had also signed a Memorandum of Understanding each with the states of Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh for critical coal connectivity projects to improve transportation of coal, officials informed.