MINERAL PRODUCTION IN FEBRUARY
2003
The mineral production
from mining and quarrying sector in February 2003 showed 7 per
cent increase as compared to that of the corresponding month of
previous year, but was 7 per cent less than the preceding month.
The total value of mineral production (excluding atomic &
minor minerals) in the country during the month was Rs. 4747 crore
as compared to Rs. 5117 crore in January 2003. The contribution
of coal was the highest at Rs. 1885 crore (40 per cent). Next
in the order of importance were: petroleum (crude) Rs. 1419 crore,
natural gas (utilized) Rs. 706 crore, iron ore Rs. 240 crore,
lignite Rs. 137 crore and limestone Rs. 128 crore. These six minerals
together contributed 95 per cent of the total value of mineral
production in February 2003.
Production level
of important minerals during the month were: coal 297 lakh tonnes,
lignite 23 lakh tonnes, natural gas (utilized) 2432 million cu.
M., petroleum (crude) 25 lakh tonnes, bauxite 938 thousand tonnes,
chromite 278 thousand tonnes, copper conc. 14 thousand tonnes,
gold 264 kg., iron ore 92 lakh tonnes, lead conc. 5 thousand tonnes,
manganese ore 143 thousand tonnes, zinc conc. 42 thousand tonnes,
apatite & phosphorite 123 thousand tonnes, dolomite 281 thousand
tonnes, limestone 123 lakh tonnes and mangesite 22 thousand tonnes.
During February 2003
the output of apatite & phosporite increased by 17 per cent,
chromite 10 per cent, bauxite 6 per cent, lead conc. 3 per cent
and lignite 2 per cent as compared to the preceding month. However,
the output of iron ore decreased by 10 per cent, petroleum (crude)
9 per cent, natural gas (utilized) and dolomite 8 per cent each,
coal 7 per cent, magnesite 6 per cent manganese ore and zinc conc.
5 per cent each, limestone 2 per cent, copper conc. and gold 1
per cent each.
