State-owned miner NMDC as part of its plans to launch branded iron ore has selected Rail Vikas Nigam (RVNL) to establish a nearly ₹3,000 crore blending yard in Visakhapatnam.

A letter of award of contract, from NMDC, for setting up a buffer stockpiles and blending yard with a capacity to handle 10 million tonnes per annum in Vizag, Andhra Pradesh, has been received, RVNL said. It is a ₹2,977 crore order and 42 months is by when the contract is to be executed, it said last week in a filing.

The award of the contract comes on the heels of NMDC announcing its intent to become the first company in India to sell branded iron ore or the commodity with fixed quality specifications. The branded product increases blast furnace efficiency substantially and for the producer commands a premium in the market.

NMDC, which is India’s largest iron ore producer, is eyeing to launch the product within three years.

The Board has already sanctioned around ₹3,000 crore investment for establishing a blending yard in Visakhapatnam where NMDC will make blended iron ore of a consistent quality which India has never seen. The company expects the product to be a game changer in the iron ore market in the country, CMD Amitava Mukherjee told an investor call earlier this month.

The location has been chosen for its proximity and connectivity from the mines operated by NMDC in Chhattisgarh. The proposed project is expected to come up on a about half of the 1,167 acres the company had taken on long lease from Rashtriya Ispat Nigam (RINL), the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, and is near Gangavaram port.

The blending yard and various other proposed projects form part of NMDC plans to invest ₹50,000 crore over the next few year as it eyes to enhance iron ore mining capacity to 100 million tonnes by 2030. In FY26 it had reported a record 53.15 MT output of the key raw material for steel and 50.23 MT sales. The company is targetting more than 60 million tonnes production in current fiscal.