Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi Saturday lauded the state-owned Odisha Mining Corporation (OMC) for setting up the country’s first pilot plant for the extraction of platinum group metals (PGMs) from minerals sourced from the Bangur chromite mine in Keonjhar district.
Noting that OMC’s contribution towards building a “Samruddh Odisha” (prosperous Odisha) remains significant, Majhi said the corporation has successfully tested the pilot facility for extracting platinum group elements.
“With this, OMC will play a crucial role in providing basic metals for manufacturing clean energy equipment, electronics and modern motor vehicles in Odi sha,” he said. The project holds national significance as PGMs comprise six precious metals — platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium — known for their high melting points, corrosion resistance and catalytic properties, widely used in automotive catalytic converters and chemical refining.
Officials said the pilot plant has been set up at the Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (IMMT), Bhubaneswar, in collaboration with South Africa’s mineral technology institution Mintek.
As part of the project, PGMs are being extracted from ore sourced from Bangur chromite mines in Keonjhar. Developed at a cost of about 10 crore, the pilot plant aims to establish India’s first integrated Platinum Group Element (PGE) beneficiation and smelting facility.
The 1-tonne-per-hour capacity unit will validate the consistency and scalability of PGE concentrate under real-time operating conditions. Majhi made the remarks while addressing the 71st foundation day of OMC.
He said the PSU, which started with an investment of 1 crore in the 1960s, has now recorded a turnover of over 25,000 crore in the last financial year, calling it a key driver of the state’s industrial and economic growth.
“The OMC is continuously meeting the increasing demand and is playing a crucial role in the industrialisation and economic development of the state,” the chief minister said, adding that the state PSU has created a record by extracting 45 million tonnes of minerals.
“Now it is time for OMC to further expand its scope of operations and start mining-based activities in other states of the country. Having a huge raw material available with it, the OMC should also focus on setting up its own plants,” Majhi said and proposed that the PSU set up a pellet plant in Keonjhar.
The chief minister said OMC is continuously striving towards environmental protection, safe mining management and overall development of the mining areas. The CM advised the OMC management to involve the local people in the mining sector.