The index of mineral production of mining and quarrying sector for the month of November(new Series 2004-05=100) 2016 at 135.9, was 3.9% higher as compared to November 2015. The cumulative growth for the period April- November 2016-17 over the corresponding period of previous year has been (+) 0.3 percent.
The total value of mineral production (excluding atomic & minor minerals) in the country during November 2016 was Rs. 20481 crore. The contribution of Coal was the highest at Rs. 8737 crore (43%). Next in the order of importance were: Petroleum (crude) Rs. 5227 crore, Iron ore Rs. 2140 crore, Natural gas (utilized) Rs. 2134 crore, Lignite Rs.643 crore and Limestone Rs. 541 crore. These six minerals together contributed about 95% of the total value of mineral production in November 2016.
Production level of important minerals in November 2016 were: Coal 604 lakh tonnes, Lignite 37 lakh tonnes, Natural gas (utilized) 2580 million cu. m., Petroleum (crude) 29 lakh tonnes, Bauxite 2023 thousand tonnes, Chromite 237 thousand tonnes, Copper conc. 12 thousand tonnes, Gold 118 kg., Iron ore 163 lakh tonnes, Lead conc. 25 thousand tonnes, Manganese ore 226 thousand tonnes, Zinc conc. 160 thousand tonnes, Apatite & Phosphorite 101 thousand tonnes, Limestone 251 lakh tonnes, Magnesite 22 thousand tonnes and Diamond 2719 carat.
The production of important minerals showing positive growth during November 2016 over November 2015 include ‘Lignite’ (57.4%), ‘Manganese ore’ (38.4%), ‘Diamond’ (28.4%), ‘Iron ore’ (28.3%), ‘Lead conc. (26.0%), ‘Zinc conc.’ (25.4%), ‘Magnesite’ (20.5%), ‘Gold’ (16.8%), ‘Limestone’ (10.0%), ‘Coal’ (7.1%) and ‘Copper conc.’ (0.1%). The production of other important minerals showing negative growth are: ‘Chromite’ [(-) 17.3%], ‘Apatite & Phosphorite’ [(-) 15.8%], ‘Petroleum (crude)’ [(-) 5.5%], ‘Natural gas (utilized)’ [(-) 2.0%] and ‘Bauxite’ [(-) 1.9 %].