Indian Iron Ore Production Falls by 15% in FY15 – Govt Data

As per the provisional data released by the Indian government, country’s iron ore fell by 15% Y-o-Y from 152.4 MnT in FY14 to 129 MnT in FY15.

Iron ore production from Odisha, India’s top iron ore producing state, fell by 15% in FY15 and stood at 52 MnT. On similar lines, production from Jharkhand fell by 13% and stood at 19.6 MnT in FY15. Prime reason behind downfall in production was temporary suspension of mining activities in the states by the Apex Court. However, production from Karnataka improved by 1.9 MnT and stood at 20.2 MnT in FY15.

India’s captive iron ore production fell by 6 MnT in FY15. Iron ore production by captive mines of Tata Steel reduced drastically and has fallen from 18.4 MnT in FY14 to 14.85 MnT in FY15. The mines were shutdown for about a period of 3 months owing to issue of leases renewal.

With amended MMDR act in place, iron ore production is expected to increase to 150-155 MnT in FY16.

Provisional data
Source: Indian Bureau of Mines