Most of India’s coal comes from Gondwana deposits, which are found mainly in:

the Damodar, Mahanadi, Son and Godavari valleys

the Tertiary deposits of Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland

the Damodar, Mahanadi, Son and Godavari valleys

the sand dunes of the Thar desert

the beach sands of the Kerala coast

Assertion (A): Uranium deposits in India occur in the Dharwar rocks, as along the Singhbhum copper belt. Reason (R): India’s uranium is obtained mainly from the monazite sands of the Kerala coast.

Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A

Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A

Mineral and Energy Resources of India

India’s varied geology gives it a wide range of minerals, most of them in the old rocks of the peninsular plateau, and its energy comes from both exhaustible fuels and renewable sources. This chapter classifies minerals, places the three great mineral belts, takes each important mineral with the mines it is known for, and then covers conventional energy (coal, petroleum, natural gas), nuclear energy and the non-conventional, renewable sources, ending with conservation. Most questions are matching — mine to mineral, site to energy source — so the tables are the chapter.

What Minerals Are and How They Are Classified

A mineral is a natural substance of organic or inorganic origin with definite chemical and physical properties. Three characteristics matter: minerals are unevenly distributed over space; there is an inverse relationship between quality and quantity — good-quality minerals occur in smaller quantities than low-quality ones; and they are exhaustible, taking so long to form that they cannot be replenished at the time of need.

Classification of minerals
Class	Sub-class and examples
Metallic	Ferrous (containing iron) — iron ore, manganese, chromite. Non-ferrous — copper, bauxite, lead, zinc; precious — gold, silver
Non-metallic	Organic — the fossil fuels, coal and petroleum, formed from buried plants and animals. Inorganic — mica, limestone, graphite

The three main mineral belts
Belt	Area	Minerals
North-eastern plateau region	Chhotanagpur (Jharkhand), the Odisha plateau, West Bengal and parts of Chhattisgarh	Iron ore, coal, manganese, bauxite, mica — the base of heavy industry
South-western plateau region	Karnataka, Goa and the adjoining uplands of Tamil Nadu and Kerala	Ferrous metals and bauxite; high-grade iron ore, manganese and limestone; monazite and thorium on the Kerala coast; poor in coal except Neyveli lignite
North-western region	Along the Aravallis in Rajasthan and parts of Gujarat	Copper and zinc; building stones — sandstone, granite, marble; gypsum, Fuller’s earth, limestone; petroleum in Gujarat; salt

Smaller concentrations occur in the Himalayan belt (copper, lead, zinc, cobalt, tungsten), in the Assam valley (mineral oil), and offshore along the west coast, where Mumbai High yields petroleum and natural gas.

Important Minerals and Their Mines

Minerals with the mines and areas they are known for
Mineral	Notes	Mines and areas
Iron ore	India has large reserves of good-quality haematite and magnetite	Odisha: Gurumahisani, Badampahar (Mayurbhanj), Kiruburu (Kendujhar), Bonai (Sundergarh); Jharkhand: Noamundi, Gua; Chhattisgarh: Dalli-Rajhara (Durg), Bailadila (Dantewada); Karnataka: Sandur-Hospet (Ballari), Baba Budan hills, Kudremukh (Chikkamagaluru); Goa
Manganese	Used in smelting iron ore and making ferro-alloys; associated with the Dharwar system	Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra (Nagpur, Bhandara), Madhya Pradesh (Balaghat)
Bauxite	The ore of aluminium; found in tertiary deposits associated with laterite	Odisha (Kalahandi, Koraput — Panchpatmali), Jharkhand, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh
Copper	Used in electrical cables and electronics; alloyed into brass and bronze	Singhbhum (Jharkhand), Balaghat (Madhya Pradesh), Khetri in Jhunjhunu and Alwar (Rajasthan)
Mica	Used in the electrical and electronic industries for insulation	Hazaribagh plateau (Jharkhand), Nellore (Andhra Pradesh), Rajasthan

Energy Resources

Conventional and nuclear energy
Source	Key facts
Coal	Gondwana coal — a little over 200 million years old — supplies most of India’s coal, from the Damodar valley (Jharia, the largest coalfield, and Raniganj), and the Mahanadi, Son, Godavari and Wardha valleys. Tertiary coal, about 55 million years old, occurs in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland. Lignite (brown coal) is mined at Neyveli in Tamil Nadu
Petroleum	Found in sedimentary rocks of the tertiary period. Assam: Digboi (the oldest oilfield), Naharkatiya, Moran; Gujarat: Ankaleshwar, Kalol, Mehsana; offshore: Mumbai High. Refineries are field-based, like Digboi, or market-based, like Barauni
Natural gas	Found with petroleum and also on its own, as in the Krishna–Godavari basin; the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) was set up in 1984 to transport and market it, and the Hazira–Vijaipur–Jagdishpur (HVJ) pipeline carries it to the north
Nuclear energy	Uranium occurs in the Dharwar rocks — the Singhbhum copper belt, Udaipur, Alwar and Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan, Durg in Chhattisgarh, Bhandara in Maharashtra and Kullu in Himachal Pradesh. Thorium comes from monazite and ilmenite in the beach sands of the Kerala and Tamil Nadu coasts. The Atomic Energy Commission was set up in 1948; power stations include Tarapur, Rawatbhata (near Kota), Kalpakkam, Narora, Kaiga and Kakrapara

⚠️ Field-based or market-based — where the refinery stands

A field-based refinery is built at the oilfield, so crude travels a short distance — Digboi in Assam. A market-based refinery is built near the consumers of its products and crude is piped or shipped to it — Barauni in Bihar. Questions pair one with the other; remember that Digboi is the oldest oilfield, so its refinery is the field-based example.

Coal, petroleum, natural gas and nuclear fuels use exhaustible raw materials. The non-conventional sources — solar, wind, tidal and wave, geothermal and bio-energy — are renewable, more evenly distributed and environment-friendly.

Non-conventional energy and where its potential lies
Source	Where / how
Solar	Photovoltaic cells and solar thermal technology; potential is highest in the western parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan
Wind	Favourable in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
Tidal and wave	Along the west coast, especially the Gulf of Khambhat and the Gulf of Kachchh
Geothermal	Heat from the earth’s interior emerging as hot springs; an experimental project at Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh, and the Puga valley in Ladakh
Bio-energy	Energy from biological products — agricultural residues, municipal, industrial and other wastes — converted into electricity, heat or cooking gas

Conserving minerals means using them sustainably: developing renewable alternatives to fossil fuels, recycling scrap metal, using substitutes for scarce metals, and reducing the export of strategic and scarce minerals so that reserves last longer.

Key takeaways

Minerals are unevenly distributed, exhaustible, and show an inverse relationship between quality and quantity.
Ferrous: iron ore, manganese, chromite; non-ferrous: copper, bauxite; organic non-metallic: coal, petroleum; inorganic: mica, limestone.
Belts: north-eastern plateau (Chhotanagpur), south-western plateau (Karnataka–Goa), north-western (Aravallis).
Iron ore: Bailadila, Kudremukh, Noamundi, Gurumahisani; copper: Khetri, Singhbhum, Balaghat; mica: Hazaribagh, Nellore; bauxite: Koraput, Kalahandi.
Gondwana coal (Damodar valley; Jharia largest) is far older than Tertiary coal (north-east); lignite at Neyveli.
Digboi is the oldest oilfield and a field-based refinery; Barauni is market-based.
Uranium: Dharwar rocks (Singhbhum, Rajasthan); thorium: monazite and ilmenite of the Kerala coast.
Solar: western Gujarat and Rajasthan; tidal: Gulfs of Khambhat and Kachchh; geothermal: Manikaran.

Practice questions (8)

Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.

The refinery at Digboi in Assam is an example of a:
1. Market-based refinery
2. Port-based refinery
3. Field-based refinery
4. Offshore refinery
Show answer
Answer: C — Field-based refinery
Digboi stands on India’s oldest oilfield, so its refinery is built where the crude is produced — a field-based refinery. Barauni in Bihar is the standard example of a market-based refinery, built near the consumers of its products, and Digboi is far inland, so neither a port-based nor an offshore description fits.
India’s best-known deposits of lignite, or brown coal, are at:
1. Neyveli in Tamil Nadu
2. Jharia in Jharkhand
3. Raniganj in West Bengal
4. Digboi in Assam
Show answer
Answer: A — Neyveli in Tamil Nadu
Neyveli in Tamil Nadu is India’s best-known lignite field, in a south-western region otherwise poor in coal. Jharia and Raniganj in the Damodar valley are Gondwana coalfields of much older, higher-grade coal, and Digboi is an oilfield, not a coal deposit.
Thorium is obtained mainly from monazite and ilmenite found in the beach sands of the coast of:
1. Gujarat
2. Maharashtra
3. Goa
4. Kerala
Show answer
Answer: D — Kerala
The monazite and ilmenite sands of the Kerala coast, extending into Tamil Nadu, are India’s main source of thorium, one of the two nuclear fuels. Uranium, the other, comes from Dharwar rocks inland. Gujarat is known for petroleum and salt, Goa for iron ore, and the Maharashtra coast is not a monazite region.
Match List-I (mine or field) with List-II (mineral):
List-I: A. Bailadila B. Khetri C. Jharia D. Neyveli
List-II: I. Copper II. Lignite III. Iron ore IV. Coal
1. A-I, B-III, C-IV, D-II
2. A-III, B-I, C-IV, D-II
3. A-III, B-I, C-II, D-IV
4. A-III, B-IV, C-I, D-II
Show answer
Answer: B — A-III, B-I, C-IV, D-II
Bailadila in Chhattisgarh is an iron-ore mine, Khetri in Rajasthan a copper mine, Jharia in the Damodar valley India’s largest coalfield, and Neyveli in Tamil Nadu the lignite field. The code that swaps Jharia and Neyveli confuses black Gondwana coal with brown lignite; the one that swaps Bailadila and Khetri confuses the two metal ores.
Most of India’s coal comes from Gondwana deposits, which are found mainly in:
1. the Tertiary deposits of Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland
2. the Damodar, Mahanadi, Son and Godavari valleys
3. the sand dunes of the Thar desert
4. the beach sands of the Kerala coast
Show answer
Answer: B — the Damodar, Mahanadi, Son and Godavari valleys
Gondwana coal, a little over 200 million years old, lies in the river valleys of the peninsula — the Damodar (with Jharia and Raniganj), Mahanadi, Son and Godavari. The north-eastern deposits are the much younger Tertiary coal, and the Thar desert and Kerala’s beach sands are not coal-bearing at all.
An experimental project at Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh harnesses which form of energy?
1. Tidal energy
2. Wind energy
3. Solar thermal energy
4. Geothermal energy
Show answer
Answer: D — Geothermal energy
Manikaran is known for its hot springs, where heat from the earth’s interior reaches the surface, and the project there uses this geothermal energy. Tidal energy needs a coast with a high tidal range such as the Gulf of Khambhat, and solar and wind potential is greatest in the plains and coasts of the west, not in a Himalayan valley.
Assertion (A): Uranium deposits in India occur in the Dharwar rocks, as along the Singhbhum copper belt.
Reason (R): India’s uranium is obtained mainly from the monazite sands of the Kerala coast.
1. Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A
2. Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A
3. A is true, but R is false
4. A is false, but R is true
Show answer
Answer: C — A is true, but R is false
A is true: uranium occurs in the Dharwar rocks of the Singhbhum copper belt and in parts of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh. R is false because it confuses the two nuclear minerals — the monazite sands of the Kerala coast are the source of thorium, not uranium.
Consider the following statements about non-conventional energy in India:
A. Solar energy potential is high in the western parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan.
B. The Gulf of Khambhat and the Gulf of Kachchh offer potential for tidal energy.
C. Non-conventional sources are renewable and more evenly distributed than fossil fuels.
D. Bio-energy can be produced from agricultural residues and municipal and industrial wastes.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
1. A, B, C and D
2. A and B only
3. B, C and D only
4. A and C only
Show answer
Answer: A — A, B, C and D
All four are true. The dry, sunny west of Gujarat and Rajasthan has the highest solar potential; the two gulfs on the west coast have the tidal range needed for tidal power; renewable sources are more evenly spread and cleaner than coal or oil; and bio-energy turns farm residues and municipal and industrial wastes into power, heat or gas.