Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC), the mining arm of the government of the eastern Indian state of Odisha, has finalized plans to build a 1.5 million mt per year iron ore pellet plant with an investment of $83 million, government officials said on Tuesday.
The pellet plant will be located near OMC’s Gandhamardan iron ore mines in Keonjhar district. The project, marking OMC’s entry into value-added mining operations, is part of the company’s strategy to move up the mineral value chain while ensuring optimum utilization of low-grade iron ore, which often remains underused, the officials said.
They added that OMC is also considering a second pellet plant, plans for which will be finalized based on the success of the first plant, which has already been approved.
Government-run engineering consultancy firm MECON has been mandated to provide technical advice for the project. A techno-feasibility and techno-economic study is currently underway to assess the project’s viability, plant configuration, logistics requirements and long-term commercial sustainability, the officials said.
