Mineral output increases by 5.1% in December, says mines ministry

India's mineral output increased by 5.1 per cent in December as compared to the year-ago period, the government said on Thursday.

The index of mineral production of mining and quarrying sector for the month of December, 2023 at 139.4 is 5.1 per cent higher as compared to the level witnessed in the corresponding month of 2022, the mines ministry said in a statement.

The cumulative growth rate in the mining and quarrying sector for the April-December period of the current fiscal over the corresponding period of previous financial year is 8.5 per cent, as per the provisional statistics of Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM).

In December, the production of coal stood at 929 lakh tonnes while that of lignite at 40 lakh tonnes, iron ore at 255 lakh tonnes and limestone at 372 lakh tonnes.

Production of lignite, limestone, coal, bauxite and natural gas showed positive growth.

However, a negative growth was registered in the production of petroleum (crude), gold, chromite, phosphorite and diamond.

The ministry further said that country produced iron ore worth Rs 9,360 crore in December, 2023, higher from Rs 6,943 crore in the year-ago month. In case of limestone, the output was worth Rs 984 crore in December last year compared to Rs 887 crore in December 2022.

Silver production was worth Rs 452 crore in December 2023, up from Rs 305 crore a year ago, the ministry said.