Iron ore production increases by 7.4% to 116 MT in April-August

Iron ore production: Indian iron ore production rose 7.4 percent during April-August period of current fiscal year at 116 million tonnes (mt) from 108 mt in previous period of last fiscal, provisional data released by Ministry of Mines today showed. rise is a reflection of strong demand from major user industries, especially steel.

Manganese ore production, like iron ore, saw a tremendous spurt during fiscal year. This increased to 1.5 MT from 1.3 MT in previous fiscal year. Of course, iron ore alone contributes to about 70 per cent of total mineral production value in country.

non-ferrous metal industry also posted growth with primary aluminum production increasing to 17.49 LT from 17.26 LT in year-ago period. Refined copper production too increased by 5.8 per cent, climbing from 1.91 LT to 2.02 LT.

India is second-largest in world in production of aluminum, a member of top ten refined copper producers, and world's fourth-largest producer of iron ore. sustained growth in iron ore production is reflective of robust demand conditions in areas including energy, infrastructure, construction, automotive, and machinery-all of which are activities showing sustained economic activity.