The Union government says that the index of mineral production of mining and quarrying sector in May 2013 was higher by 1.6 per cent compared to that of the preceding month. The mineral sector has shown a negative growth of 5.7 per cent during May 2013 as compared to that of the corresponding month of previous year. The total value of mineral production (excluding atomic & minor minerals) in the country during May 2013 was Rs 18,074 crore.
The contribution of petroleum (crude) was the highest at Rs 5,790 crore (32 per cent). Next in the order of importance were: coal Rs 5,570 crore, iron ore Rs 2,923 crore, natural gas (utilised) Rs 1,879 crore, lignite Rs 514 crore and limestone Rs 389 crore. These six minerals together contributed about 94 per cent of the total value of mineral production in May 2013.
Production level of important minerals in May 2013 were: coal 432 lakh tonnes, lignite 45 lakh tonne, natural gas (utilised) 2935 million cu. m., petroleum (crude) 32 lakh tonne, bauxite 2023 thousand tonne, chromite 288 thousand tonne, copper conc. 12 thousand tonne, gold 128 kg., iron ore 131 lakh tonne, lead conc. 17 thousand tonne, manganese ore 237 thousand tonne, zinc conc. 143 thousand tonne, apatite & phosphorite 47 thousand tonne, dolomite 525 thousand tonne, limestone 242 lakh tonne, magnesite 17 thousand tonne and diamond 3735 carat.
In May 2013 the output of chromite increased by 31.5 per cent, diamond 27.6 per cent, zinc conc. 15.8 per cent, apatite & phosphorite 11.2 per cent, gold 8.5 per cent, copper conc. 7.3 per cent, iron ore 6.8 per cent, manganese ore 5.3 per cent, petroleum (crude) and dolomite 2.1 per cent each, lignite 1.6 per cent, bauxite 1.4 [er cent, lead conc. 1.3 per cent and coal 0.3 per cent. However the production of natural gas (utilised) decreased by 0.2 per cent, limestone 0.4 per cent and magnesite 7.0 per cent.
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