The index of mineral production of mining and quarrying sector for the month of July (new Series 2004-05=100) 2016 at 118.7, was 0.8% higher as compared to July 2015. The cumulative growth for the period April- July 2016-17 over the corresponding period of previous year stands at (+) 2.0%.
The total value of mineral production (excluding atomic & minor minerals) in the country during July2016 was Rs. 17339 crore. The contribution of Coal was the highest at Rs. 6238 crore (36%). Next in the order of importance were: Petroleum (crude) Rs. 5593 crore, Natural gas (utilized) Rs. 2165 crore, Iron ore Rs. 1347 crore, Limestone Rs. 554 crore and Lignite Rs.535 crore. These six minerals together contributed about 95% of the total value of mineral production in July 2016.
Production level of important minerals in July 2016 were: Coal 442 lakh tonnes, Lignite 30 lakh tonnes, Natural gas (utilized) 2618 million cu. m., Petroleum (crude) 31 lakh tonnes, Bauxite 1972 thousand tonnes, Chromite 177 thousand tonnes, Copper conc. 11 thousand tonnes, Gold 172 kg., Iron ore 115 lakh tonnes, Lead conc. 22 thousand tonnes, Manganese ore 150 thousand tonnes, Zinc conc. 89 thousand tonnes, Apatite & Phosphorite 54 thousand tonnes, Limestone 253 lakh tonnes, Magnesite 17 thousand tonnes and Diamond 3100 carat.
The production of important minerals showing positive growth during July 2016 over July 2015 include ‘Gold’ (19.4%), ‘Coal’ (4.7%), ‘Natural gas (utilized)’ (4.4%), ‘Lead conc. (3.0%), ‘Chromite’ (2.1%), ‘Manganese ore ’(1.2%), ‘Iron ore’ (0.7%) and ‘Limestone’ (0.3%) . The production of other important minerals showing negative growth are: ‘Apatite & Phosphorite’ [(-) 72.6%], ‘Zinc conc.’ [(-) 31.4%], ‘Magnesite’ [(-) 31.3%], ‘Bauxite’ [(-) 31.0%], ‘Copper conc.’ [(-) 16.5%], ‘Diamond’ [(-) 15.3%], ‘Petroleum (crude)’ [(-) 1.8%] and ‘Lignite’ [(-) 1.6%].