Indian state-run miner NMDC Limited’s 3 million mt per year greenfield steel mill project will be commissioned in September this year, after a seven-year time overrun and a INR 70 billion ($897 million) cost overrun, a government official said on Monday, June 27.
The project to be commissioned in the central state of Chhattisgarh has already cost INR 202 billion ($2.594 billion) and another INR 17 billion ($218 million) is expected to be incurred as “pre-commissioning expenses before September”, the official said.
The government official said that the demerger process of separating the steel mill project from its parent NMDC Limited will be completed by August-September, as a precursor to calling for bids from investors towards the privatization of the mill.
He said that the government is pushing for early commissioning of the project without any further delay as only a fully operational mill will be put up for competitive bidding for private investors.