India’s state-owned iron ore miner NMDC Ltd registered over 40 per cent growth in its capital expenditure for financial year 2023-24 at Rs 2066 crore (April-March) against Rs 1464 crore in FY23 in order to scale up iron ore output to 100 million tonnes (MT) and help the nation meet the goal of 300 million tonnes of steel production by 2030.

This significant jump in capex came after the miner carried out a comprehensive review of its decision-making process and brought about key changes to make the organisation more agile and decentralised.

“At NMDC, we recognise the enormity of the task at hand and hence and we have set an internal goal to more than double our capacity to 100 MTPA by 2030 in line with the national vision,” said K Venkateswarlu, General Manager, Finance at NMDC Limited.

“This is not just a target but a clarion call for transformation in pace, efficiency, and execution. We intend to further improve the capex in this fiscal as a followup to reviewing delegation of power within NMDC,” Venkateswarlu said.

India will need iron ore production of 450-460 million tonnes annually in order to produce 300 million tonnes of steel.

NMDC took firm steps by recalibrating delegation of powers within the organisation and made the entire process seamless by optimising the layers of approval so that decisions that are meant to augment iron ore output are not delayed.

In FY24, NMDC achieved its highest-ever capex of Rs 2066 crore, excluding the investment in the Steel Plant at Nagarnar Steel Limited (NSL). The Steel Plant itself incurred a capex of Rs 1226 crore, showcasing the focused approach towards meeting the steel production goals.

“In a strategic move during 2023 and 2024, NMDC decentralised the powers of the CMD across its competent ranks.While the power to sanction still rested with the top echelons – the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), directors, and Heads of Projects – the powers related to tendering and execution were disseminated to heads of departments. All this, within the ambit of the powers delegated to CMD by the Board,” said Venkateswarlu.