NMDC raises FY15 profit, eyes Rs 3,500-crore capex this fiscal

State-run NMDC is planning a <g data-gr-id="39">capex</g> of Rs 3,500 crore for the current financial year even as the company reported a 31 per cent fall in its standalone net profit for the quarter ended March 31. The country’s biggest iron ore miner posted a net profit of Rs 1,347 crore in Q4 FY2015 as against Rs 

1,962 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous fiscal.

The company, however, reported a marginal rise in profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 6,422 crore for the full fiscal compared with Rs 6,420 crore in 2013-14, NMDC Chairman and Managing Director Narendra Kothari told reporters here. The profit before tax (PBT) for 2014-15 stood at Rs 9,768 crore as against Rs 9,759 crore in 2013-14, he said.

For the fourth quarter of 2014-15, NMDC’s profit before tax declined to Rs 2,064 crore from 2,998 <g data-gr-id="42">crore</g> a year ago. The turnover was Rs 2,829 crore in Q4 2015 as against Rs 3,884 crore in Q4 2014, while the iron production declined to 7.94 million tonnes (MT) as against 9.96 MT during the period. The company recorded its highest ever turnover of Rs 12,356 crore in 2014-15 as against Rs 12,058 crore in 2013-14, Kothari said, adding <g data-gr-id="40">caped</g> for the FY2015 was Rs 3,136 crore as against Rs 2,518 crore compared to the previous year.

“The company planned a <g data-gr-id="31">capex</g> of Rs 3,500 crore for the current fiscal.” We expect iron ore prices to firm up between $60 and $70 and hence enhance production to a level of 35 MT for this fiscal,” he said. The production of the company during 2014-15 also touched a record at 30.44 MT as against 30.02 MT in 2013-14, Kothari said. 

Even though, the international and domestic prices have come down in the year 2014-15, NMDC with its efforts achieved the 30 million tonnes mark, he said. “NMDC during the year <g data-gr-id="37">inspite</g> of low demand of steel could maintain its production and sales levels at above 30 MT mainly due to sustained and 

collaborative efforts of all disciplines,” Kothari said. “We are looking at an ambitious target of achieving 100 million tonnes of iron ore production in the next few years. We would like to go from 30 MT to 100 MT. We are planning to raise our capacity by 2021 and achieve production of 100 MT by 2024-2025,” Kothari added.

He said that the company started trial production from the Bailadila Iron Ore Deposit 11B in Chhattisgarh. On future plans, he said 

commissioning of Pellet plant at Donimalai will begin in around next one-two months. The Kumaraswamy Iron Ore mine in Karnataka will be opened in third quarter of this calendar year, he said adding the future plans include SPVs in association with Odisha, Jharkhand and Karnataka for steel plants.