NMDC Faces Slowdown in Iron Ore Production Due to Work-to-Rule Protest

India’s largest iron ore producer, National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), has reported a slowdown in operations across its iron ore projects due to an ongoing work-to-rule protest by trade unions.

The protest, linked to wage settlement negotiations, has significantly impacted daily production at NMDC’s key projects in Kirandul, Bacheli, and Donimalai.

Trade Unions Protest Slows Operations

A work-to-rule protest involves employees strictly adhering to official procedures, which slows down production without entirely halting operations.

NMDC acknowledged this disruption in a press statement, saying, “We hereby inform that the trade unions have resorted to willful slowdown of work and work-to-rule in connection with wage settlement. The conciliation proceedings before the Chief Labour Commissioner at New Delhi are posted for 17th March 2025.”

The company emphasised that it is making efforts to resolve the situation and restore normal production levels. However, the slowdown has resulted in a 30-40% reduction in daily production across its major iron ore complexes.

Limited Financial Impact Despite Production Hit

Despite the operational slowdown, NMDC assured stakeholders that all assets are fully insured, and the financial impact remains negligible at this stage. “The NMDC management is putting its best effort to resolve the issue at the earliest for resuming production at normal levels,” the statement added.

Production and Sales Performance Amid Slowdown

In its latest operational update, NMDC reported a 17.85% year-on-year (YoY) increase in iron ore production, reaching 4.62 million tonnes (MT) in February 2025 compared to 3.92 MT in February 2024. However, sales saw a slight decline to 3.98 MT from 3.99 MT in the same month last year.

Chhattisgarh Operations

• Production dipped by 1.17% YoY to 3.37 MT.
• Sales saw a slight increase to 2.79 MT from 2.78 MT.

Karnataka Operations

• Production surged by an impressive 145.09% YoY to 1.25 MT.
• Sales fell slightly by 1.65% YoY to 1.19 MT.

FY25 Performance

For the financial year 2024-25 (up to February), NMDC’s cumulative production stood at 40.49 MT, reflecting a modest 0.62% YoY growth. However, cumulative sales declined slightly by 0.69% YoY to 40.20 MT.

Stock Performance 

On March 10, 2025, NMDC share price ended 1.64% lower at ₹65.97. NMDC share price reached a 52-week high of ₹95.35, and a 52-week low of ₹59.70. As per BSE, the total traded volume for the stock stood at 6.40 lakh shares with a turnover of ₹4.30 crore.

At the current price, NMDC shares are trading at a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 8.71x, based on its trailing 12-month earnings per share (EPS) of ₹7.75, and a price-to-book (P/B) ratio of 2.06, according to exchange data.

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