NMDC gets renewal of 4 leases in Chhattisgarh

Public sector mining giant NMDC Limited got a breather on Tuesday as the Chhattisgarh government extended the lease of four mines that are due for extension in March 2020.

The Mineral Resources Department, Government of Chhattisgarh, in their letter issued on Tuesday, extended the four mining leases in Bailadila in South Bastar, Dantewada district for a further period of 20 years. The leases of Bailadila Deposit No.5, Deposit No.10, Deposit No.14, and Bailadila Deposit No.14NMZ have been extended for a period of 20 years ending September 2035, the company said in a statement.

However, the company is waiting for the renewal of its mining lease in Donimalai of the Ballari district in Karnataka for the last one year.

The public sector mining major, which has been in the business of mining iron ore for over six decades, operates three iron-ore complexes in the country. Two are in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh - sharing a major proportion of the company’s total output and one is located in Karnataka’s Donimalai,

Of the NMDC’s 33-million tonnes per annum (MTPA) production, Chhattisgarh’s two complexes in Bacheli and Kirandul under the Bailadila project contributed about 24 MTPA (in 2018-19).

NMDC started the exercise for renewal of leases of Bailadila Projects well in advance in the State of Chhattisgarh. Of the five mines in Bailadila Sector, lease of four mines with an installed capacity of over 29 MTPA has been extended now and one mining lease has already been extended in 2017.

“We are grateful to Government of Chhattisgarh and especially Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and top officials for their support to NMDC in granting an extension of the lease (for the four mines) for another 20 years,” said N Baijendra Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, NMDC.

For the period between April and November this year, the company has produced 18.89 million tonnes of iron ore as against 18.75 million tonnes produced in the same period a year ago.