India’s mineral output increased by 10.7 per cent in July 2023 as compared to the same month in the previous year. The index of mineral production of the mining and quarrying sector for the month of July, 2023 was at 111.9, which is 10.7 per cent higher as compared to the level in the month of July, said a release by the Ministry of Mines. As per the provisional statistics of Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), the cumulative growth for the period April- July over the corresponding period of the previous year is 7.3 per cent.
The production level of important minerals in July, 2023 were: Coal (693 lakh tonne), Lignite (32 lakh tonne), Natural gas (utilized) (3062 million cu. m.), Petroleum (crude) (25 lakh tonne), Bauxite (1477 thousand tonne), Chromite (280 thousand tonne), Copper conc. (10 thousand tonne), Gold (102 kg), Iron ore (172 lakh tonne), Lead conc. (30 thousand tonne), Manganese ore (217 thousand tonne), Zinc conc. (132 thousand tonne), Limestone (346 lakh tonne), Phosphorite (120 thousand tonne) and Magnesite (10 thousand tonne).
Meanwhile, important minerals showing positive growth during July 2023 over July 2022 included, Chromite (45.9 per cent), Manganese Ore (41.7 per cent), Coal (14.9 per cent), Limestone(12.7 per cent), Iron Ore (11.2 per cent), Gold (9.7 per cent), Copper Conc.(9 per cent), Natural gas (U) (8.9 per cent), Lead Conc.(4.7 per cent), Zinc Conc.(3.6 per cent), Magnesite (3.4 per cent) and Petroleum(crude) (2.1 per cent). Other important minerals showing negative growth included, Lignite (-0.7per cent), Bauxite (-3.2 per cent), Phosphorite (-24.7 per cent) and Diamond (-27.3 per cent).