NMDC Scripts History as India’s First Mining Company to Reach 50 Million Tonnes of Iron Ore Production

• NMDC Limited, a Navratna CPSE under the Ministry of Steel, became the first Indian mining company to produce 50 MT of iron ore in a single financial year (FY 2025-26).
• Important for UPSC because it intersects PSU classification (Navratna), critical minerals/steel sector, Atmanirbhar Bharat in raw materials, and mining law (MMDR Act regime).
• Output has expanded fivefold from ~10 MT (1978) to 50 MT (FY 2025-26).
• Signals India's push toward the National Steel Policy 2017 target of 300 MT crude steel by 2030-31, of which domestic iron ore is the critical feedstock.