As per the provisional figures, the index of mineral production of mining and quarrying sector for the month of July (new Series 2004-05=100) 2015 at 117.7, was 1.3% higher as compared to July 2014.The cumulative growth for the period April- July 2015-16 over the corresponding period of previous year stands at (+) 0.6%. The total value of mineral production (excluding atomic & minor minerals) in the country during July 2015 was Rs 17,564 crore. The contribution of coal was the highest at Rs 6,045 crore (34%). Next in the order of importance were: petroleum (crude) Rs 5,696 crore, natural gas (utilized) Rs 2,070 crore, iron ore Rs 1,989 crore, limestone Rs 498 crore and lignite Rs 424. These six minerals together contributed about 95% of the total value of mineral production in July 2015. Production level of important minerals in July 2015 were: coal 423 lakh tonne, lignite 31 lakh tonne, natural gas (utilized) 2503 million cu. m., petroleum (crude) 31 lakh tonne, bauxite 2521 thousand tonne, chromite 162 thousand tonne, copper conc. 11 thousand tonne, gold 144 kg., iron ore 119 lakh tonne, lead conc. 21 thousand tonne, manganese ore 126 thousand tonne, zinc conc. 130 thousand tonne, apatite & phosphorite 157 thousand tonne, limestone 243 lakh tonne, magnesite 19 thousand tonne and diamond 3662 carat.
The production of important minerals showing positive growth during July 2015 over July 2014 include ‘apatite & phosphorite’ (88.0%), ‘bauxite’ (65.2%), ‘chromite’ (49.7%), ‘gold’ (28.6%), ‘lead conc.’ (28.5%), ‘iron ore’ (25.6%), ‘copper conc.’ (6.6%), ‘zinc conc.’ (5.8%), ‘limestone’ (3.1%), ‘coal’ (0.4%) and ‘lignite’ (0.2%). The production of other important minerals showing negative growth are: ‘petroleum (crude)’ [(-) 0.4%], ‘diamond’ [(-) 2.7%], ‘natural gas (utilized)’ [(-) 5.5%], ‘manganese ore’ [(-) 23.1%] and ‘magnesite’ [(-) 37.9%].