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 the April-August period of the current fiscal year at 116 million tonnes (mt) from 108 mt in the previous period of last fiscal, provisional data released by the Ministry of Mines today showed. The rise is a reflection of strong demand from major user industries, especially steel.

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

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

India is the second-largest in the world in the production of aluminum, a member of the top ten refined copper producers, and the world's fourth-largest producer of iron ore. The 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.