State-owned iron ore miner NMDC reported a near 24 percent fall in quarterly net profit, with higher other expenses and employee costs denting margins. But, the main trigger for NMDC remains the developments around the Donimalai mine.

TRK Rao, director (commercial) at NMDC, said the lease for the Donimalai mines have been extended,by the state government from November 4, 2018 onwards.

"However, there is a clause in the lease which says we are entitled to pay some premium but since that is not payable to a government company, they have referred the lease again to Karnataka Government to consider this and then grant the lease without levy of the premium," Rao told CNBC-TV18 on Wednesday.

“When a government company gets a lease, it is governed by some conditions and within that a government company which has lease prior to 2015 is governed by certain conditions. So our case comes in sanction of lease prior to 2015,” said Rao.

When asked if they were on course to achieve the targeted volumes of 36 million tonnes, he said, "It would depend on the resolve of Donimalai mine. If it is resolved in a short while then there won’t be any impact on volumes."

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First Published:Nov 14, 2018 10:29 AM IST