NMDC plans investments to pivot towards tailored products

India's largest iron ore producer National Mineral Development Corporation Ltd (NMDC) shifts its focus to different classes of customers and tweak its offerings based on their needs, according to chairman and managing director (additional charge) Amitava Mukherjee.

The Navratna PSU has signed up McKinsey & Company and Deloitte to study the market and customer requirements for the next five-six years and come up with a marketing policy over the next few months. "We have engaged consultants and in about three to six months’ time we will have a clarity on what sort of investments  we need to make to have customised products for different classes of customers rather than have a vanilla product for all of them," Mukherjee said in a post-earnings call with analysts.

The 65-year-old company, under the administrative control of the Ministry of Steel, has been involved in the exploration of a wide range of minerals, including copper, rock phosphate, limestone, magnesite, diamond, tungsten and beach sands. Its customers include Jindal Steel, JSW Steel, Arcelor Mittal and Nippon Steel.

Mukherjee said the policy will be prepared by the end of this financial year and the company expects the realisations to jump once the customised products are sold. NMDC would take two more years to ramp iron ore production beyond 52 million tonnes.