Iron ore output beats ban blues, surges 27% to 154 mt

India's iron ore output surged 27 per cent to 154.48 million tonnes during April-January of this fiscal following lifting of the mining ban. It stood at 122 mt in the same period of 2015-16. "The country's iron ore production has increased significantly to 154.48 mt during April-January of 2016-17. The percentage increase is 26.63 per cent while in value terms, the increase is 7.79 per cent," Mines Secretary Arun Kumar said. Iron ore output had nosedived with an average annual contraction of 9.4 per cent in 2012-16 following the mining ban in the three largest iron-ore producing states -- Goa, Odisha and Karnataka -- which has since been lifted.