- Mine produced 1.58 mnt in FY’26; estimated remaining reserves at 2 mnt
- Most material produced was supplied to Shyam Sel, Shri Jagannath Steel, etc.
Iron ore production at D.R. Patnaik’s Murgabeda mine in Odisha has stopped following the expiry of its mining lease on 2 July 2026. The lease was originally granted on 3 July 1976.
The mine had an annual production capacity of 2 million tonnes (mnt) and produced 1.58 mnt in FY’26. Production during April-2 July 2026 (FY’27) stood at around 0.39 mnt.
The mine is estimated to have around 2 mnt of iron ore reserves remaining, which are currently inaccessible following the lease expiry.
Most of the material produced from the mine was supplied to Shyam Sel, Shri Jagannath Steel, NRVS Steels, Orissa Metaliks, and Srijan Steel, among other consumers.
India’s iron ore production is projected to rise to 340-345 mnt in FY’27 from around 316 mnt in FY’26, indicating growth of 8% y-o-y, according to BigMint data. However, supply expansion is expected to exceed incremental demand from the steel sector, with additional volumes unlikely to be fully absorbed domestically.
Odisha is expected to remain the primary driver of production growth, with output projected to increase to around 178 mnt in FY’27 from 162 mnt in FY’26. This implies that a bulk of incremental volumes will continue to originate from a single state, further increasing its contribution to India’s total iron ore production.
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