To meet the expected spurt in steel demand in the near future, the country largest producer and exporter of iron ore, the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) has chalked out an ambitious plan to invest Rs. 2,500 crore to shore up its production capacity from the current 30 million tons per annum to 50 million tons by 2014.

According to the Chairman and Managing Director, Rana Som, the new IIB mine at Bailadila will become operational by the middle of next year, while the Kumaraswamy mines in Karnataka are expected to start production by 2011. Apart from this, the company is opening another mine in Chhattisgarh in a joint venture with Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation (CMDC) where the company is engaged in the process of getting forest clearance. Likewise the opening of deposit-four in Bailadila, which is also a joint ventures project, is in the pipeline.

In Jharkhand, the company is looking at Ghatkuri iron ore deposits for exploitation through a joint venture with the state government, while in Orissa it is targeting the Mankadnacha deposits. In addition, the company has also formed a joint JV with CMDC to develop desposit-13 in Bailadila as a standalone project of 10 million tons. Ore from this mine is evacuated through the Kottavalasa Kirandul line that ends at Visakhapatnam, after traversing through high altitude regions. The railways are supplying 12 rakes daily for evacuation of the mineral but the company is currently trying to get the supply of 16 to 17 rakes daily.