New Delhi: The index of mineral production of mining and quarrying sector for the month of July (new Series 2011-12=100) 2017 at 92.6, was 4.8% higher as compared to the level in the month of July 2016. The cumulative growth for the period April- July 2017-18 over the corresponding period of previous year has been (+) 2.1 percent.
The total value of mineral production (excluding atomic & minor minerals) in the country during July 2017 was Rs. 18037 crore. The contribution of Coal was the highest at Rs. 5924 crore (33%). Next in the order of importance were: Petroleum (crude) Rs. 5564 crore, Iron ore Rs. 2069 crore, Natural gas (utilized) Rs. 2314 crore, Limestone Rs. 588 crore and Lignite Rs. 503 crore. These six minerals together contributed about 94% of the total value of mineral production in July 2017.
Production level of important minerals in July 2017 were: Coal 445 lakh tonnes, Lignite 27 lakh tonnes, Natural gas (utilized) 2798 million cu. m., Petroleum (crude) 31 lakh tonnes, Bauxite 1629 thousand tonnes, Chromite 198 thousand tonnes, Copper conc. 11 thousand tonnes, Gold 136 kg., Iron ore 136 lakh tonnes, Lead conc. 22 thousand tonnes, Manganese ore 171 thousand tonnes, Zinc conc. 126 thousand tonnes, Apatite & Phosphorite 71 thousand tonnes, Limestone 268 lakh tonnes, Magnesite 12 thousand tonnes and Diamond 4037 carat.
The production of important minerals showing positive growth during July 2017 over July 2016 include: ‘Zinc conc.’ (40.9%), ‘Diamond’ (30.2%), ‘Iron ore’ (18.8%), ‘Manganese ore’ (15.8%), ‘Chromite’ (11.7%), ‘Natural gas (utilized)’ (7.0%), ‘Limestone’ (6.5%), ‘Lead conc.’ (4.2%), ‘Coal’ (1.0%) and ‘Copper conc.’ (0.9%). The production of other important minerals showing negative growth are: ‘Magnesite’ [(-) 45.5%], ‘Apatite & Phosphorite’ [(-) 43.1%], ‘Gold’ [(-) 20.9%], ‘Bauxite’ [(-) 14.3%], ‘Lignite’ [(-) 9.2%] and ‘Petroleum (crude)’ [(-) 0.5%].
