The production of some key minerals in the country has continued to witness strong growth during the first seven months of FY 2024-25 (April-October), after reaching record production levels in FY 2023-24, according to the data released by the Ministry of Mines on Thursday.

Iron ore accounts for 69 per cent of the country’s total mineral production by value. The production of iron ore was 274 million metric tonne (MMT) for the full financial year 2023-24.

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As per provisional data, production of iron ore has increased from 152.1 MMT in the first seven months FY 2023-24 (April- October) to 158.4 MMT in FY 2024-25 (April-October), showing a healthy 4.1 per cent growth.

Production of manganese ore has risen by 11.1 per cent to 2.0 MMT in FY 2024-25 (April- October) from 1.8 MMT during the corresponding period of previous year. Production of bauxite has risen by 11.3 per cent to 13.8 MMT in FY 2024-25 (April- October) from 12.4 MMT in FY 2023-24 (April- October).

In the non-ferrous metal sector, primary aluminium production in FY2024-25 (April- October) posted a growth of 1.2 per cent over the corresponding period last year, increasing to 24.46 lakh ton (LT) in FY2024-25 (April-October) from 24.17 LT in FY2023-24 (April-October). During the same comparative period, refined copper production has grown by 6 per cent from 2.83 LT to 3.00 LT.

India is the second largest aluminium producer, among the top-10 producers in refined copper and the 4th largest iron ore producer in the world.

Continued growth in production of iron ore in the current financial year reflects the robust demand conditions in the steel industry which uses it as an input. Coupled with growth in aluminium and copper, these growth trends point towards continued strong economic activity in user sectors such as energy, infrastructure, construction, automotive and machinery.

In fact, India is the only large economy showing robust growth in the consumption of steel with a double-digit jump of 13.5 per cent in the first half of 2024-25, according to latest figures compiled by the Ministry of Steel.