As per the Survey conducted by the Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) in April, 1995. India had 10,053 Million tonnes of Recoverable reserves of Heamatites and 3,408 Million Tonnes of Magnetite. While Zone 'A' comprising of Bihar & Orissa is the largest Heamatite Ore bearing Zone in the Country with reserves of 5951 Million Tonnes consisting mainly of Medium Grade & Low Grade Ore (Iron content 65% and below), Madhya pradesh has the largest quantity of High Grade Ore reserves (Iron content greater than 65%) in the country at 570 Million Tonnes. Karnataka has the highest reserves of Magnetite at 2784 Million tonnes followed by Andhra Pradesh and Goa.

 The details of Recoverable reserves of Heamatites and Magnetite is as under :

 Recoverable Reserve of Heamatite as on 01/4/95

Unit : Million tonnes

Recoverable Reserves of Magnetite (As on 1/4/95)

 Production of iron ore (including concentrates) during the year 1997-98 was 73.45 million tonnes as against 68.17 million tonnes in the previous year. State-Wise production figures indicate that Madhya Pradesh would continue to be the leading iron ore produceing State accounting for 26% of the total production during the year, followed by Karnataka with 22%, Goa 19%, Orissa 17% and Bihar 16%. The remaining production was from Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra.

 Despatches of iron ore (including concentrates) for 1997-98 were 71.41 million tonnes. The despatches of iron ore for internal consumption and exports would be 40.27 million tonnes and 31.14 million tonnes respectively.

 Production and despatches of iron ore during the last 5 years was as under:

M.T. : Million Tonnes.

 The exports during the year 1997-98 were at 35.26 (Prov.) million tonnes as against 29.65(Prov.) million tonnes in 1996-97.

 Production

 Production of manganese ore during 1997-98 was1.60 million tonnes as against 1.81 million tonnes in 1996-97. Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra and Karnataka were be the principal producing state accounting for 34%, 22%, 20% and 17% respectively in the total production of manganese ore in 1997-98.

 Despatches

 Despatches of manganese ore during 1997-98 were 1.64 million tonnes of which 1.41 million tonnes were be for internal consumption and 0.22 million tonnes for exports.

 Production and despatches of manganese ore from 1994-95 to 1997-98 are indicated below :

 Export policy of manganese ore is decided keeping in view the need for conserving high grade ores. Alongwith this, effort is also made to replace the export of ores with export of value added items.

 For the year 1997-98 the maximum ceilings of manganese ore allowed for export were as follows:

Actual export during last two years have been as follows:

 Production

Production of Chromite in 1997-98 was 15.64 lakh tonnes as against 14.56 lakh tonnes in 1996-97. Orissa continues to be the chief producing state accounting for 98% of the total production.

 Despatches

Production and despatches of Chromite during the year 1994-95 to 1997-98 are given below:

Keeping in view the limited reserve of Chromite ore in the country, only certain grades of ore are allowed for export. Exphasis has been laid on export of beneficiated chromite concentrates. From the year 1997-98, a five year Export policy was decided upon by Government so us to enable the exporters to establish their presence in the international market.

 The maximum ceilings for export of Chromite ore for 1997-98 were as follows:

Actual exports during last two years have been as follows:

The production of ferro alloys in India started in early fifties with the industry growing manifold during these four decades. The industry is mainly concentrated in four states viz. Orissa, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka for their being rich in the basic raw materials for the production of the ferro alloys.

 Installed Capacity and Utilisation

There are 35 large and medium size units (including four 100% EOUs) with an installed capacity of 1.3 million tonnes (including 2 lakh tonnes of Charge Chrome capacity of four 100% EOUs). Besides this, there are small scale units having an installed capacity of about 1.80 lakh tonnes per annum.

Ferro alloy industry is a highly power intensive industry. High power tariffs, coupled with relatively poor quality of supply is one of the major reasons affecting the production and profitability of ferro alloy industry. Average consumption of power per tonne of different bulk ferro alloy ranges between 2700-4065 kwh in the case of ferro silicon. Due to this, the capacity utilisation in the industries has been in the vicinity of 50% to 55%. The production of ferro alloys indirectly related to the plan of production and growth of steel industry. The production of major bulk ferro alloys and Noble ferro alloys during last five years was as under:

* Source: Indian Ferro Alloys Producers' Association, Mumbai.

 Export of Ferro Alloys

Export of ferro alloys from India have been showing an upward trend as may be seen from details given below:

 *Source: Indian Ferro Alloys Producers' Association, Mumbai

Coal is a major raw material for the Iron & Steel Industry which consumes both Coking & Non-Coking coal.

 Consumption of Coking Coal

During 1997-98 the consumption of coking coal in SAIL Steel Plants (including IISCO), TISCO and VSP was as under :

During the year 1997-98 SAIL Steel Plants (including IISCO) consumed 4.562 million tonnes of non-coking coal from domestic sources which TISCO consumed 1.450 million tonnes of non-coking coal. During 1997-98, VSP consumed 1.39 million tonnes of non-coking coal.

 Refractories

Refractories are the primary materials used in the internal lining of industrial furnaces and are classified from the chemical composition angle into - Acid Refractories, Basic Refractories and Neutral Refractories. In steel industry refractories are used for lining of coke oven batteries, blast furnaces, steel production furnaces, reheating furnaces, electrical arc furnaces etc. With the technological changes in the steel industry, the major thrust has been on economising on the use of the materials and improving technology in each area of operation/process where refractories are being used. The gradual phasing out of open hearth furnaces, adoption of continuous casting route and modernisation of secondary steel making processes, have lessened the demand for conventional refractories and increased demand for high performance refractories. In general, it can be said that all these improvements have resulted in lowering specific consumption of refractories per tonne of steel.

 Production of refractories during the year 1997-98 is given below:

 The import of refractory items in 1997-98 stood at 27804 tonnes while exports were of the order of 9770 tonnes. In value terms, export during 1997-98 was Rs.20 crores.