The index of mineral production of mining and quarrying sector for the month of June (new Series 2011-12=100) 2017 at 98.8, was 0.4% higher as compared to the level in the month of June 2016.The total value of mineral production (excluding atomic & minor minerals) in the country during June 2017 was Rs. 19363 crore. The contribution of Coal was the highest at Rs. 6743 crore (35%). Next in the order of importance were: Petroleum (crude) Rs. 5424 crore, Iron ore Rs. 2526 crore, Natural gas (utilized) Rs. 2220 crore, Lignite Rs. 733 crore and Limestone Rs. 612 crore. These six minerals together contributed about 94% of the total value of mineral production in June 2017.
Production level of important minerals in June 2017 were: Coal 487 lakh tonnes, Lignite 41 lakh tonnes, Natural gas (utilized) 2684 million cu. m., Petroleum (crude) 30 lakh tonnes, Bauxite 1691 thousand tonnes, Chromite 174 thousand tonnes, Copper conc. 12 thousand tonnes, Gold 127 kg., Iron ore 163 lakh tonnes, Lead conc. 22 thousand tonnes, Manganese ore 211 thousand tonnes, Zinc conc. 129 thousand tonnes, Apatite & Phosphorite 165 thousand tonnes, Limestone 276 lakh tonnes, Magnesite 16 thousand tonnes and Diamond 5087 carat. The production of important minerals showing positive growth during June 2017 over June 2016 include: ‘Zinc conc.’ (77.2%), ‘Diamond’ (73.5%), ‘Apatite & Phosphorite’ (49.6%), ‘Lead conc.’ (29.6%), ‘Manganese ore’ (19.3%), ‘Copper conc.’ (18.2%), ‘Lignite’ (11.8%), ‘Iron ore’ (7.9%), ‘Natural gas (utilized)’ (6.9%), ‘Gold’ (6.7%) and ‘Petroleum (crude)’ (0.6%). The production of other important minerals showing negative growth are: ‘Magnesite’ [(-) 45.4%], ‘Chromite’ [(-) 41.2%], ‘Bauxite’ [(-) 22.9%], ‘Coal’ [(-) 6.7%] and ‘Limestone’ [(-) 0.8%].
