The index of mineral production of mining and quarrying sector for the month of December(new Series 2004-05=100) 2016 at 144.5, was 5.2% higher as compared to December 2015. The cumulative growth for the period April- December 2016-17 over the corresponding period of previous year has been (+) 0.9 percent.
The total value of mineral production (excluding atomic & minor minerals) in the country during December 2016 was Rs. 22348 crore. The contribution of Coal was the highest at Rs. 9317 crore (42%). Next in the order of importance were: Petroleum (crude) Rs. 5553 crore, Iron ore Rs. 2438 crore, Natural gas (utilized) Rs. 2195 crore, Lignite Rs.804 crore and Limestone Rs. 528 crore. These six minerals together contributed about 93% of the total value of mineral production in December 2016.
Production level of important minerals in December 2016 were: Coal 642 lakh tonnes, Lignite 46 lakh tonnes, Natural gas (utilized) 2654 million cu. m., Petroleum (crude) 31 lakh tonnes, Bauxite 2081 thousand tonnes, Chromite 456 thousand tonnes, Copper conc. 11 thousand tonnes, Gold 151 kg., Iron ore 179 lakh tonnes, Lead conc. 26 thousand tonnes, Manganese ore 248 thousand tonnes, Zinc conc. 171 thousand tonnes, Apatite & Phosphorite 47 thousand tonnes, Limestone 247 lakh tonnes, Magnesite 20 thousand tonnes and Diamond 2096 carat.
The production of important minerals showing positive growth during December 2016 over December 2015 include ‘Chromite’ (67.4%), ‘Lignite’ (56.6%), ‘Zinc conc.’ (38.9%), ‘Iron ore’ (36.2%), ‘Manganese ore’ (34.1%), ‘Gold’ (28.0%), ‘Lead conc. (22.3%), ‘Bauxite’ (21.0%), ‘Apatite & Phosphorite’ (10.7%), ‘Limestone’ (5.8%), ‘Coal’ (3.8%) and ‘Natural gas (utilized)’ (0.4%). The production of other important minerals showing negative growth are: ‘Diamond’ [(-) 37.2%], ‘Copper conc.’ [(-) 21.5 %], ‘Magnesite’ [(-) 19.6 %] and ‘Petroleum (crude)’ [(-) 0.8%].
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YSK/Uma