India's iron ore production rises 9% to 98 million tonnes in April-July

The country's iron ore production rose by 8.9 per cent to 98 million tonnes (MT) in the first four months of the ongoing fiscal, the government said on Friday.

The country's iron ore output was 90 MT in the April-July period of the previous fiscal, according to the provisional data.

The production of limestone also rose marginally by 0.7 per cent to 150 MT in the April-July period from 149 MT in the year-ago period, the mines ministry said in a statement.

Production of manganese ore rose by 18.2 per cent to 1.3 MT in April-July period of FY25 as compared to 1.1 MT in the corresponding period of previous financial year.

Continued growth in production of iron ore and limestone in the current financial year reflects the robust demand conditions in the user industries viz, steel and cement, the statement said.

India is the second largest producer of aluminium, third largest lime producer and fourth largest iron ore producer in the world.

"In the non-ferrous metal sector, primary aluminium production in FY 2024-25 (April-July) posted a growth of 1.3 per cent over the corresponding period last year, increasing to 13.95 lakh tonnes (LT) in FY 2024-25 (April-July) from 13.77 LT in FY2023-24 (April-July)," it said.

Coupled with growth in aluminium, these growth trends point towards continued strong economic activity in user sectors such as energy, infrastructure, construction, automotive and machinery, the ministry said.