The government has not yet taken any decision regarding the proposed merger of National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC) and Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) KIOCL Ltd, which operates under the Ministry of Steel, runs a 3.5 million tonne per annum iron-oxide pellet plant and a blast furnace unit producing 2.16 lakh tonnes of pig iron annually at its facility in Mangaluru, Karnataka. The statement comes after Union Steel Minister HD Kumaraswamy, on January 25, disclosed that the ministry was considering a merger of KI OCL with NMDC. KumarasWamy had stated that KIocL had been reporting losses and that the situation was worsened by a lack of cooperation from the Karnataka state government. In the financial year 2023-24, NMDC achieved a turnover of Rs 21,294 crore. NMDC Limited is India’s largest iron ore producer, supplying around 20 percent of the country’s iron ore demand.