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The mineral sector has shown a growth of 4 per cent during the first eleven months of the current financial year i.e. upto February 2005 as compared to that in the same period of previous year. But mineral production in February 2005 came down by 2.3 per cent as compared to that of February 2004.
The total value of mineral production (excluding atomic & minor minerals) in the country during February 2005 was Rs.5,611 crore. The contribution of coal was the highest at Rs. 2,459 crore (44 per cent). Next in the order of importance were : petroleum (crude) Rs.1,445 crore, natural gas (utilised) Rs.647 crore, iron ore Rs.445 crore, lignite Rs. 187 crore and limestone Rs.137 crore. These six minerals together contributed about 95 per cent of the total value of mineral production during the month.
Production levels of important minerals during the month were : coal 346 lakh tonnes, lignite 28 lakh tonnes, natural gas (utilized) 2,235 million cu. m., petroleum (crude) 26 lakh tonnes, bauxite 1,242 thousand tonnes, chromite 333 thousand tonnes, copper conc. 12 thousand tonnes, gold 264 kg., iron ore 121 lakh tonnes, lead conc. 7 thousand tonnes, manganese ore 212 thousand tonnes, zinc conc. 60 thousand tonnes, apatite & phosphorite 119 thousand tonnes, dolomite 381 thousand tonnes, limestone 139 lakh tonnes and magnesite 32 thousand tonnes.
During the month, the output of magnesite increased by 21.5 per cent, zinc conc. 5.7 per cent, bauxite 4.5 per cent, apatite & Phosphorite 3.1 per cent, gold 2.3 per cent, lead conc. 1.1 per cent and chromite by 0.3 per cent. However, the output of natural gas (utilized) decreased by 17.2 per cent, copper conc. 15.5 per cent, iron ore 11.6 per cent, petroleum (crude) 11.0 per cent, manganese ore 5.4 per cent, coal 3.6 per cent, lignite 2.1 per cent, dolomite about 2.0 per cent and limestone 1.9 per cent.
DS/SCH
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