India’s Top PSUs 2022

Experts’ View 46 India’s Top PSUs 2022 How would you describe the journey of your company since its inception? What are some of the recent milestones achieved by the company? NMDC commenced iron ore mining with 4 million tonnes production capacity and in the last financial year recorded a historic 42 million tonnes. In this journey, we have explored minerals in the hinterlands of India and developed some of the best-known mines in the country. As the largest iron ore producer of the country, NMDC has ensured mineral security for nation-building. Growing from scale to strength, the company has achieved these milestones on the back of steady fundamentals and a visionary workforce. Keeping pace with the constant surge in the domestic iron ore demand, we have been rolling out ambitious expansion plans and capex outlay in pursuit of enhanced production. In recent years, NMDC has adopted cutting-edge technology and built a transformational digital infrastructure to overcome Covid-induced slowdowns and the cyclical volatilities in the sector. We have reinvented all aspects of our business - frommineral exploration to mining, the processing of ore to sales and distribution. Driven by strategic imperatives NMDC has forayed downstream of the value chain, into pellet and steel. In setting up the Beneficiation and Pellet Plant at Donimalai; Slurry Pipeline linking Bacheli to Nagarnar; and state-of-the-art Integrated Steel Plant, NMDC has demonstrated its capability and commitment to expand, diversify, and lead the mineral sector of India. What role has technology / digital transformation played in transforming your organisation? NMDC is making massive investments to enhance its technical and digital strength. We are using NMDC Limited geospatial data analytics and mapping technologies for mineral exploration. Our Donimalai Complex has implemented theMineTransport SurveillanceSystem while the Bailadila Sector has put into practice Fleet Management and Conveyor Belt Monitoring. We have collaborated with IIT Kharagpur for a first-of-its- kind initiative of drone-based mineral exploration. As the first CPSE in India to implement Enterprise Resource Planning on SAP S/4 HANA successfully. Our integrated ERP system with the MTSS that tracks and traces real-time data is another instance of constant innovation at NMDC. What is your company’s growth strategy for the next 3-5 years? Our target is to become a 100 MT iron ore mining company by 2030 and the production of 42 million tonnes in the last fiscal has boosted our spirit. While the Government seeks to ramp up the domestic per capita steel consumption, NMDC will take on an enhanced role to strengthen raw material supply and give impetus to self-reliance in the iron and steel sector. An ambitious expansion of iron ore mining capacity and investment in value-added products of this supply chain, such as pellet, are the focus areas of NMDC for the future. Our growth strategy is to build discipline in the system so that we can collect real-time data and use the insights to make well-informed decisions. In the future, we plan to leverage our expertise in moving towards a multi-mineral outlook with coal, diamond, gold and other strategic minerals of national interest in our portfolio.The company also intends to diversify its operations into new age minerals like Lithium and Nickel. The demand for these strategic minerals will rapidly grow in the upcoming years. NMDC is mining for opportunities of overseas investments and project acquisitions for this diversification. Sumit Deb , Chairman & Managing Director Dun & Bradstreet