Mineral and non-ferrous Metal Production on Growth Track in FY 2024-25 (April-December)

Production of some key minerals in the country has continued to witness strong growth during FY 2024-25 (April-December), after reaching record production levels in FY 2023-24. Iron ore accounts for 69% of the total MCDR mineral production by value. Production of iron ore was 274 million metric tonne (MMT) in FY 2023-24.

As per provisional data, production of iron ore has increased from 203 MMT in FY 2023-24 (April-December) to 208 MMT in FY 2024-25 (April- December), showing a healthy 2.5% growth. Production of manganese ore has risen by 8.3% to 2.6 MMT in FY 2024-25 (April- December) from 2.4 MMT during the corresponding period of previous year. Production of Chromite has risen by 9.5% to 2.3 MMT in FY 2024-25 (April- December) from 2.1 MMT during the corresponding period of previous year. Additionally, production of bauxite has also risen by 6.5% to 18.1 MMT in FY 2024-25 (April- December) from 17.0 MMT in FY 2023-24 (April- December).

In the non-ferrous metal sector, primary aluminium production in FY 2024-25 (April- December) posted a growth of 1.6% over the corresponding period last year, increasing to 31.56 lakh ton (LT) in FY 2024-25 (April- December) from 31.07 LT in FY 2023-24 (April- December). During the same comparative period, refined copper production has grown by 7.3% from 3.69 LT to 3.96 LT.

India is the 2^nd largest Aluminium producer, among top-10 producer in refined copper and 4^th 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 user industry viz. steel. 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.