India’s iron ore production rose marginally by 0.6% to 53 million metric tonnes (MMT) in the April-May period of the ongoing financial year (FY26) as compared to 52.7 MMT in the same period of the previous fiscal. The production of manganese ore, bauxite, zinc concentrate and limestone rose in the April-May period of the ongoing fiscal. 

In the non-ferrous metal sector, primary aluminium production in April-May grew by 1.3% to 7.07 lakh tonnes (LT) from 6.98 LT in the year-ago period. During the same period, refined copper production has grown by 43.5% from 0.69 LT to 0.99 LT in the April-May period of the ongoing financial. India is the second largest aluminium producer, among top ten producers in refined copper, and third 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.