Major minerals grow 28% in value to Rs 607 bn, highest in five years

Iron ore leads robust growth among major minerals; bauxite production dips almost 9%

After staying stagnant or witnessing a downtrend since 2012-13, the value of major minerals produced in the country registered a sharp rise of 28 per cent to Rs 607.30 billion in FY18. 

Iron ore production, which touched a decade high of 210 million tonnes in last fiscal, led the robust growth in value of major minerals except coal, lignite and minor minerals. Total value of iron ore output was Rs 327.51 billion, higher by 30.2 per cent than Rs 251.38 billion in 2016-17. In value terms, limestone was the next big contributor at Rs 71.29 billion, rising by 6.59 per cent. Limestone production in the period rose from 313.20 million tonnes (mt) to 325.34 mt 

Among the major minerals, value of bauxite production dipped 8.82 per cent to Rs 12.92 billion at the end of FY18 from Rs 14.17 billion in 2016-17. Correspondingly, bauxite production over the period went down from 24.66 mt to 20.63 mt, a decrease of 16.34 per cent.

According to data collated by the Union mines ministry, total value of all minerals was estimated at Rs 1,135.41 billion in FY18, 13.26 per cent higher than Rs 1,002.41 billion. While the value of non-metallic minerals hit a plateau, metallic minerals surged 32 per cent in value terms at Rs 530.28 billion.

In 2017-18, Rajasthan led states in value of mineral production with a share of 20.26 per cent in the national output. Nexty to Rajasthan is Odisha with a share of 17.77 per cent followed by Andhra Pradesh (9.45 per cent), Chhattisgarh (8.8 per cent), Karnataka (7.83 per cent), Telangana (6.06 per cent) and Gujarat (5.66 per cent). 

Minerals contributed 1.36 per cent to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and within this contribution, coal and lignite had a share of 0.71 per cent, major minerals accounted for 0.29 per cent and minor minerals 0.34 per cent.