The Mineral Production Index for the month of March 2024 was 156.1, which is 1.2 percent higher than the level for the month of March 2023. The index for the entire financial year 2023-24 has registered an increase of 7.5 percent compared to the financial year 2022-23. During March 2024, some non-fuel minerals like copper concentrate, gold, manganese ore, diamond, graphite, kyanite, sillimanite, limeshale, limestone, magnesite etc. saw positive growth as compared to the same month last year.
Iron ore and limestone together constitute about 80 percent of the total MCDR mineral production by value. According to provisional data, the production of these major minerals in the country has seen a high growth in the financial year 2023-24. Iron ore production of 277 million metric tonnes (MMT) in financial year 2023-24 has broken the production record of 258 MMT achieved in financial year 2022-23 with a growth of 7.4 per cent. Showing a similar trend, limestone production has also surpassed the production record of 406.5 MMT achieved in FY 2022-23, increasing by 10.7 per cent to 450 MMT in FY 2023-24.
In the non-ferrous metals sector, the production of primary aluminum metal in the financial year 2023-24 has broken the production record of the financial year 2022-23. Primary aluminum production increased from 40.73 lakh tonne (LT) in FY 2022-23 to 41.59 LT during FY 2023-24 at a growth rate of 2.1 per cent.
India is the world's second largest aluminum producer, third largest lime producer and fourth largest iron ore producer. Healthy growth in iron ore and limestone production in FY 2023-24 reflects strong demand conditions in user industries steel and cement. With higher growth in aluminium, these growth trends point to strong economic activity in user sectors such as energy, infrastructure, construction, automotive and machinery.
