New Delhi: The index of mineral production of mining and quarrying sector for the month of September (new Series 2004-05=100) 2016 at 115.6, was 3.1% lower as compared to September 2015. The cumulative growth for the period April- September 2016-17 over the corresponding period of previous year has been 0.0 percent.
The total value of mineral production (excluding atomic & minor minerals) in the country during September 2016 was Rs. 16997 crore. The contribution of Coal was the highest at Rs. 6076 crore (36%). Next in the order of importance were: Petroleum (crude) Rs. 5302 crore, Natural gas (utilized) Rs. 2068 crore, Iron ore Rs. 1457 crore, Lignite Rs.718 crore and Limestone Rs. 535 crore. These six minerals together contributed about 95% of the total value of mineral production in September 2016.
Production level of important minerals in September 2016 were: Coal 424 lakh tonnes, Lignite 39 lakh tonnes, Natural gas (utilized) 2500 million cu. m., Petroleum (crude) 29 lakh tonnes, Bauxite 1707 thousand tonnes, Chromite 164 thousand tonnes, Copper conc. 11 thousand tonnes, Gold 159 kg., Iron ore 130 lakh tonnes, Lead conc. 20 thousand tonnes, Manganese ore 162 thousand tonnes, Zinc conc. 126 thousand tonnes, Apatite & Phosphorite 38 thousand tonnes, Limestone 245 lakh tonnes, Magnesite 26 thousand tonnes and Diamond2725carat. The production of important minerals showing positive growth during September 2016 over September 2015 include ‘Gold’ (54.4%), ‘Chromite’ (25.7%), ‘Lignite’ ( 21.8%), ‘Iron ore’ (13.4%) ‘Magnesite’ (11.8%) ‘Manganese ore’ (5.8%) and ‘Limestone’ (3.5%). The production of other important minerals showing negative growth are: ‘Apatite & Phosphorite’ [(-) 77.9%], ‘Bauxite’ [(-) 24.5 %], ‘Lead conc. [(-) 12.0%], ‘Diamond’ [(-) 9.5%], ‘Zinc conc.’ [(-) 8.4%], ‘Copper conc.’ [(-) 7.5%], ‘Coal’ [(-) 5.9%], ‘Natural gas (utilized)’ [(-) 5.6%], and ‘Petroleum (crude)’ [(-) 4.1%].
