The index of mineral production of mining and quarrying sector for the month of April (new Series 2011-12=100) 2017 at 99.9, was 4.2% higher as compared to the level in the month of April 2016.
The total value of mineral production (excluding atomic & minor minerals) in the country during April2017 was Rs. 19350 crore. The contribution of Coal was the highest at Rs. 6424 crore (33%). Next in the order of importance were: Petroleum (crude) Rs. 5342 crore, Iron ore Rs. 2870 crore, Natural gas (utilized) Rs. 2032 crore, Lignite Rs. 895 crore and Limestone Rs. 603 crore. These six minerals together contributed about 94% of the total value of mineral production in April 2017.
Production level of important minerals in April 2017 were: Coal 463 lakh tonnes, Lignite 50 lakh tonnes, Natural gas (utilized) 2457 million cu. m., Petroleum (crude) 29 lakh tonnes, Bauxite 2008 thousand tonnes, Chromite 289 thousand tonnes, Copper conc. 9 thousand tonnes, Gold 117 kg., Iron ore 185 lakh tonnes, Lead conc. 24 thousand tonnes, Manganese ore 217 thousand tonnes, Zinc conc. 127 thousand tonnes, Apatite & Phosphorite 53 thousand tonnes, Limestone 281 lakh tonnes, Magnesite 15 thousand tonnes and Diamond 2320 carat.
The production of important minerals showing positive growth during April 2017 over April 2016 include: ‘Apatite & Phosphorite’ (390.7%), ‘Lignite’ (153.5%), ‘Zinc conc.’ (125.1%), ‘Lead conc.’ (47.1%), ‘Diamond’ (35.1%), ‘Manganese ore’ (23.6%), ‘Iron ore’ (12.5%), ‘Chromite’ (11.4%), ‘Gold’ (4.5%), ‘Natural gas (utilized)’ (2.5%) and ‘Limestone’ (1.4%). The production of other important minerals showing negative growth are: ‘Magnesite’ [(-) 46.1%], ‘Bauxite’ [(-) 12.2%], ‘Copper conc.’ [(-) 11.6%], ‘Coal’ [(-) 3.7%] and ‘Petroleum (crude)’ [(-) 0.6%].
