Mineral production index grew 3.9% in November

The Dollar Business Bureau

The mineral production index of mining and quarrying industry for the month of November rose by 3.9% while the overall value of mineral production in the month has been projected at Rs.20,481 crore. 

“The index of mineral production of the mining and quarrying sector for November 2016, at 135.9, was 3.9% higher compared to November 2015,” Mines Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

“The cumulative growth for the 8-month period April-November of 2016-17 has been 0.3% as compared to the same period in the previous year,” it said. 

The total value of mineral output - excluding minor and atomic minerals - in the given month was Rs.20,481 crore. 

The highest contribution was from coal at Rs.8,737 crore (43%). The other major minerals were petroleum (crude) Rs.5,227 crore, natural gas (utilised) Rs.2,134 crore, iron ore Rs.2,140 crore,  lignite Rs.643 crore and limestone Rs.541 crore. 

The given six minerals collectively accounted for around 95% of the total value of mineral output in the country in November 2016. 

The level of production of key minerals in November include 604 lakh tonnes of coal, 37 lakh tonnes of lignite, 29 lakh tonnes of petroleum (crude), and 2,580 million cubic metres of natural gas (utilised).  

The production level of some other important minerals were iron ore 163 lakh tonnes, bauxite 2023 thousand tonnes, chromite 237 thousand tonnes, manganese ore 226 thousand tonnes, Lead conc. 25 thousand tonnes, copper conc. 12000 tonnes, gold 118 kg  and diamond  2719 carat. 

The output of key minerals recorded a positive growth during November 2016 over the same month in the previous year include lignite with 57.4%, followed by manganese ore (38.4%), diamond (28.4%), iron ore (28.3%), lead conc. (26%), zinc conc. (25.4%), magnesite (20.5%), gold’ (16.8%), limestone (10%) and coal (7.1%). 

The production of minerals including chromite, apatite & phosphorite, petroleum (crude) and natural gas (utilised) have shown a negative growth of 17.3%, 15.8%, 5.5% and 2%, respectively.