RECOVERABLE RESERVES AND PRODUCTION OF BAUXITE AND BENTONITE

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RAJYA SABHA

As per the National Mineral Inventory prepared by Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM), a subordinate office under the Department of Mines, the quantity of recoverable reserves of bauxite in India as assessed on April 1, 1995 is about 2462431.03 thousand tonnes. The States having major reserves of bauxite are Orissa with 1395218.60 thousand tonnes, Gujarat with 117324.65 thousand tonnes, Andhra Pradesh with 551479 thousand tonnes, Maharashtra with 85590.89 thousand tonnes, Madhya Pradesh with 63874 thousand tonnes, Chhatisgarh with 59621 thousand tonnes and Goa with 51260 thousand tonnes.

The recoverable reserves of bentonite in India as assessed on April 1, 2000 are about 380991132 tonnes. The State wise reserve position is Rajasthan 274933771 tonnes, Gujarat 96590688 tonnes and Tamil Nadu 8589467 tonnes.

Total production of bauxite during the year 2001-02 was 8585368 tonnes, the value of which was about Rs. 191.67 crore. The States which were the major contributors are Orissa 3604635 tonnes, Gujarat 1489490 tonnes, Jharkhand 1215301 tonnes and Maharashtra 1078086 tonnes. About the production of bentonite the State Government of Gujarat has reported production of 484686 tonnes in Saurashtra and Kutch region of Gujarat State in the year 2001-02.

The demand/consumption of bauxite during 2000-01 was 6984700 tonnes and its supply/production in that year was about 7893110 tonnes. The quantity of export of bauxite during the year 2000-01 was 1248178 tonnes and its import during the same period was about 27098 tonnes.

The said information was given in a written reply today in Rajya Sabha by Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of State for Coal, Mines, Law & Justice.