Public sector iron ore miner NMDC expects to start a 400-km underground slurry pipeline from Bailadila in Chhattisgarh to Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh by 2018.
The pipeline project will be a joint venture with Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd and the two are also in talks with private players Essar Steel, Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd and others.
The project entails an investment of ₹8,000-9,000 crore and will also include two iron ore pellet plants, NMDC’s Chairman and Managing Director Narendra Kothari said here on Friday.
The pipeline will be used to transport iron ore fines from NMDC’s Bailadila mine to RINL’s plant in Visakhapatnam. “The first phase of 100 km connecting Bailadila and Jagdalpur will be completed by 2018. The second phase thereafter in a year or two,” he said. Kothari was speaking at a Confederation of Indian Industry event on mining.
During the event, Minister for Steel and Mines Narendra Singh Tomar said that while the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) Act amendments implemented earlier this year have allowed more public sector entities to engage in mineral exploration, private sector investment is important.
A joint task force, headed by R Sridharan, Additional Secretary in the Mines Ministry, with members from the industry, will be set up to look into policy changes required to attract private sector investment in exploration.
Balvender Kumar, Secretary, Mines Ministry, said: “There is a need now to incentivise and attract private sector investment into mineral exploration”.