R Krishna Das
Guided by a leadership philosophy that prioritizes long-term, big-picture thinking as well as decisiveness and innovation, Sumit Deb has led the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) to a number of milestone achievements since taking over as the Chairman-cum-Managing Director (CMD) in August 2001.
Amidst COVID-induced challenges, the company trudged down the road marked for the growth. Besides digital transformation, NMDC accelerated many ambitious projects in last one year that include expediting coal mining project, resolving the complicated mines renewal with the states, commissioning of the three million tonne per annum (MTPA) steel plant in Chhattisgarh’s Nagarnar, 15 MTPA slurry pipeline and augmenting the iron ore mines capacity in Chhattisgarh and Karnataka.
During the period, NMDC also took the edge to translate India’s ambitious AtmaNirbhar Bharat campaign into action even as the country commemorates the 75 glorious years of India’s Independence by celebrating “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”. The company steers the deliberations on designing the roadmap for the minerals and metals sector to achieve the ‘Vision 2047’.
“NMDC’s vision reverberates with the vision of National Steel Policy as it aims to augment annual iron ore production capacity to 67 million tonnes (MT) by 2025 and 100 MT by 2030.” Deb said. The work has already started on the line.
The company has planned to enhance the capacity at Bacheli in Chhattisgarh and Kumaraswamy mines in Karnataka. The expansion work in both the projects is likely to be completed in the current financial year 2022-23 (FY23). “The company has set a target to produce 46 million tonnes (MT) of iron ore in FY23. This volume is 10 per cent higher than what we have produced in FY22 and will provide cushion against any possible pressure for pricing,” Deb said.
The delays in the development of the fifth line of screening and a downhill conveyor that would significantly augment Bacheli’s production have been tackled by appointing a new consultant. The work was assumed at the fast level and would be completed by FY23 adding 2.5 MT to the company’s production. Besides, the public hearing for the expansion plan in Kumaraswamy mine of Karnataka has been successfully completed that will facilitate the augmentation of the production from 7 MT to 10 MT. NMDC has received the mining approval and the expansion work is likely to be completed in the next 5 to 6 months.
Deb, a mechanical engineer from Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, is eyeing to bag more mines in the states endowed with rich minerals. Odisha is one where Deb is aggressively pursuing for allocation of iron ore mines, specially to allot those including Malangtoli where NMDC has completed the prospecting.
The company will start earning from the coal mining business as its two mines in Jharkhand will start its activities from next year. Rohne coal block has extractable reserves of 191 million tonnes (MT) and planned production capacity of 8 MTPA while Tokisud North coal block has extractable reserves of about 52 MT of thermal coal and planned production capacity of 2.32 MTPA.
Deb’s tenure also marks best ever performance in the books. NMDC produced 42.19 MT and sold 40.56 MT of iron ore during the FY22. With this, the company registered the strongest ever growth since inception. While the production was up by 24 per cent over last fiscal’s production of 34.15 MT, NMDC recorded a growth of 22 per cent over the 33.25 MT sold in FY21.
While crossing the 42 MT milestone, the largest iron ore producer of the country also delivered the best ever annual financial results. In FY22, it recorded a turnover of Rs 25,882 crore, highest ever after the company came into being, against Rs 15,370 crore in the previous year, a whopping growth of 68 per cent.
NMDC recorded a Profit Before Tax (PBT) of Rs 12,981 crore for FY 22, 46 per cent growth over FY21’s Rs 8,902 crore. Profit After Tax (PAT) at Rs 9,398 crore for the year similarly reflected a robust growth of 50 per cent over PAT of Rs 6,253 crore achieved in the previous financial year. The public sector company also paid its highest ever dividend of 1474 per cent during FY22.
The process perseveres. As Deb believes, NMDC has operational agility to absorb cyclical volatility and dexterity to meet the demands.
