The total recoverable reserves of manganese ore are 167 million tones out of which 40 million tones are proved, 49 million tones probable and 78 million tones of possible category (India, 1999, p.444).

According to the estimates of the Geological Survey of India the total reserves of manganese are about 193 million tons (C.M.I.E., Mumbai, 1989), while the reserves of high grade ore (manganese more than 70 per cent) are estimated as 78.7 million tons (Indian Mineral Yearbook, 1983). Over 76 per cent of the total reserves of the manganese ore are confined to five states of Karnataka (37.82%), Orissa (17.62%), Madhya Pradesh (10.36%), Maharashtra (7.77%), and Goa (2.59%). Minor oc­currences of manganese are found in Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Rajasthan and West Bengal. Table 17.X presents state-wise distribution of man­ganese reserves in India.

India produced 13.98 lakh tones of manga­nese ore in I95l chiefly for export. By I97l the production reached 18.41 lakh tones recording a gain of 31.7 percent during last 20 years (1951-71). Since then there has been fluctuating trends in the output of manganese ore so as to reach the maximum of 19.03 lakh tones in 1992-93 and a minimum of 14.92 lakh tones in 1990-91. During 2000-01 the total production of manganese ore in the country was 15.56 lakh tones which were about 30,000 lakh tones less than production of the previous year.

A major part of manganese production is exported to foreign countries. Hence, the demand and price of the ore abroad have major impact over the produc­tion. Table 17.XI displays the trends in the produc­tion of manganese ore in the country.