Mining giant NMDC has announced that it would appoint a world-class consultant to get proper guidance on its pricing mechanism.

Addressing shareholders at the company's 54th AGM (annual general meeting) in Hyderabad on Thursday, NMDC chairman & managing director CS Verma revealed that the company had already issued a tender seeking expression of interest from global consultants to offer their services on iron ore pricing mechanism.

He expressed hope that the public sector mining company would be able select a consultant in within two months to adopt a new pricing iron ore mechanism from the final quarter of the current fiscal year.

Speaking on the topic, Verma said, "We hope to finalize a consultant in a month or so and begin to adopt the new pricing mechanism from fourth quarter of the fiscal."

The announcement about appointing a consultant for proper pricing formula surfaced after steel makers criticized the company for hiking prices of iron ore in contrast to the global trends. An official from the mining giant recently said on the condition of anonymity that the company never used a fixed pricing formula; sometime it used international pricing while sometimes domestic demand to set prices.

NMDC aims to increase iron ore production from 27 million tonne per annum (mtpa) now to 40 mtpa and further to 50 mtpa by 2014-15 and 2019-20 respectively.