NMDC battered down by protests

Tribals protesting against mining at PSU NMDC’s Chhattisgarh mines has led to a complete halt in iron ore production.

Thousands of tribals have been camping at NMDC’s mining towns, Kirandul and Bacheli in Dantewada. Here, NMDC operates two of its three fully mechanised mines. The protest has gained momentum as more from the interiors have converged, protesting against the proposed mining in Bailadila deposit No.13, claiming it houses their deity. Deposit-13 has a huge reserve of 326 mt of high-grade iron-ore.

NMDC was allotted this mine in 2008 and got the environmental clearance in 2015 to excavate 10 million tonnes (mt) of iron ore at peak capacity.

The NMDC had been incurring a loss of Rs 12 crore per day and as of now, the company had accounted a loss of Rs 35-40 crore.

The stock price is bearing the brunt of this agitation too. The stock price hit an intraday low of Rs 100.25 today, going down over 6.5%.