The index of mineral production in the month of February 2024 was 139.6, which is 8.0 percent higher than that of February 2023. The cumulative growth of this index for the 11 month period April-February of FY 2014 has been 8.2 percent higher than the corresponding period last year. Some of the non-fuel minerals showing positive growth during February 2024 as compared to the same month last year are – bauxite, chromite, copper concentrate, gold, zinc concentrate, manganese ore, phosphorite, diamond, graphite (R.O.M.). ), Limestone, Magnesite, etc.
In the non-ferrous metals sector, primary aluminum metal production stood at 37.11 lakh tonnes (LT) for the 11-month period April-February during FY23, up 2.5 per cent over the corresponding period of FY24. It's 38.02 LT. Full year production of primary aluminum in FY2024 is likely to break the production record of 40.73 LT in FY2013.
India is the world's second largest aluminum producer, third largest limestone producer and fourth largest iron ore producer. The healthy growth in iron ore and limestone production reflects strong demand conditions in the 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, vehicles and machinery.
