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Quick recap: mineral and energy resources of India on one page

Mineral and energy resources of India · Quick recap · Fact-checked on · how we check

Written with AI from the sources listed at the bottom of this page, then fact-checked by a separate AI.

All three parts condensed for quick revision: minerals, mining law and the metallic minerals; non-metallic and atomic minerals and coal; and petroleum, natural gas and electricity.

This chapter follows India's minerals and energy from the rock to the power line. Part 1 explains what minerals are, why they lie where they do, who governs them and where the metallic minerals are found; Part 2 covers the non-metallic and atomic minerals and coal; Part 3 covers petroleum, natural gas and electricity. Prelims questions come mostly from three places: which mineral or fuel is found where, which law, judgment or body governs it, and the firsts, largests and targets of the energy sector.

The chapter at a glance
PartCore contentMost-tested facts
1. Minerals, mining law, metallic mineralsMineral belts; Seventh Schedule and MMDR Act; iron ore, manganese, chromite, bauxite, copper, zinc, gold; critical mineralsEntry 23 State List, 54 and 53 Union List; royalty not a tax (2024); Sukinda chromite; Niyamgiri (2013); 30 critical minerals (2023)
2. Non-metallic and atomic minerals, coalMica, limestone, gypsum, phosphate; uranium and thorium; coal grades and coalfields; coal policyMonazite = thorium; Jharia coking coal, Raniganj oldest; Gondwana high ash, low sulphur; Neyveli lignite; Coal India 1975
3. Petroleum, gas and electricityOilfields, gas pipelines, refineries and reserves; thermal, hydro, nuclear and renewable power; conservationDigboi 1889 and 1901; Mumbai High 1974; HVJ; Jamnagar largest; SPRs; Tarapur 1969; 500 GW by 2030; ISA at Gurugram

Part 1. A mineral has a fixed chemical composition; an ore is rock rich enough in one to be mined at a profit. Metallic minerals lie mostly in the old igneous and metamorphic rocks of the Peninsula, and the north-eastern plateau belt of Chota Nagpur and Odisha is the richest. Mines and mineral development are in the State List (Entry 23) but subject to Union control under Entry 54 of the Union List, while oil is wholly a Union subject (Entry 53); the MMDR Act, 1957 governs major minerals, and states make the rules for minor ones. The 2015 reforms brought auctions and District Mineral Foundations, and in 2024 a nine-judge bench held by eight to one that royalty is not a tax, so states may tax mineral rights. Odisha leads in iron ore; Sukinda is known for chromite, Balaghat for manganese, Khetri and Malanjkhand for copper, Rampura Agucha and Zawar for zinc and lead, and Hutti for gold. India listed 30 critical minerals in 2023.

Part 2. Mica (Koderma–Giridih, Nellore), limestone (the base of cement, with marble as its metamorphosed form at Makrana), gypsum (mostly Rajasthan, used on alkaline soils) and rock phosphate are used largely as they come from the ground. Uranium is mined at Jaduguda and Tummalapalle, and thorium comes from monazite in the beach sands of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Odisha, which is why Homi Bhabha planned a three-stage nuclear programme ending in thorium. Coal rises in grade from peat through lignite and bituminous coal to anthracite. Gondwana coal, in the Damodar, Son, Mahanadi, Godavari and Wardha valleys, makes up nearly all of India's coal; it is high in ash but low in sulphur. Jharia holds the main store of coking coal and Raniganj is the oldest coalfield, while the younger Tertiary coal of the north-east is high in sulphur and Neyveli mines lignite. Coal was nationalised in 1971–73, Coal India formed in 1975, allocations were cancelled by the Supreme Court in 2014, and commercial mining opened in 2020.

Part 3. Petroleum gathers in traps in younger sedimentary rocks, so India's oil lies in Assam (Digboi, struck in 1889), Gujarat (Ankleshwar), offshore at Mumbai High (found in 1974) and in Rajasthan's Barmer basin; even so, close to 88 per cent of crude was imported in 2023–24. Gas moves along the Hazira–Vijaipur–Jagdishpur pipeline and arrives as LNG at Dahej. Digboi is the oldest working refinery and Jamnagar the largest, and crude is held as a strategic petroleum reserve at Visakhapatnam, Mangaluru and Padur. Coal stations stand at pitheads such as Singrauli and Korba and gave about three-quarters of India's electricity in 2023–24; hydro needs the steady flow and steep drop of the Himalaya; nuclear power began at Tarapur in 1969. renewable energy is led by solar in Rajasthan and Gujarat and wind in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, under a pledge of 500 GW of non-fossil capacity by 2030, and the International Solar Alliance, launched in 2015, is based at Gurugram.

The three parts form one chain: geology decides what India has, what India has decides its energy pattern, and the location of each mine, refinery and power station follows its fuel, water or market. Plentiful coal and scarce oil explain both the coal-heavy power system and the effort put into pipelines, reserves and clean power. When revising, link every place to its resource and every law, judgment or target to its year.

Exam traps

Recap

Practice questions

Q1. Consider the following statements:
1. Mines and mineral development is an entry in the State List, subject to Union control under the Union List.
2. Regulation and development of oilfields is a subject in the State List.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: A. 1 only

Statement 1 is correct (State List Entry 23, subject to Union List Entry 54). Statement 2 is wrong: oilfields and mineral oil resources are in the Union List (Entry 53). So '2 only' and 'both' accept a wrong statement, and 'neither' rejects a correct one.

Q2. The Sukinda valley in Odisha is best known for the mining of

  1. manganese
  2. chromite
  3. bauxite
  4. copper
Show answer

Answer: B. chromite

Sukinda (Jajpur) holds nearly all of India's chromite. Manganese is associated with Balaghat and Keonjhar, bauxite with Panchpatmali, and copper with Khetri and Malanjkhand, not Sukinda.

Q3. In Mineral Area Development Authority v. Steel Authority of India (2024), the Supreme Court held that

  1. royalty is a tax, so states cannot levy any further tax on mineral rights
  2. royalty is not a tax, and states can tax mineral rights
  3. all minerals must be transferred to the Union List
  4. minor minerals can be auctioned only by the Union
Show answer

Answer: B. royalty is not a tax, and states can tax mineral rights

The nine-judge bench held by eight to one that royalty is not a tax and that states can tax mineral rights under the State List. The first option states the view the Court rejected; it did not move minerals to the Union List; and minor minerals remain under state rules.

Q4. Consider the following statements about Indian coal:
1. Gondwana coal is generally high in ash but low in sulphur.
2. Jharia is the oldest coalfield of India, mined since the eighteenth century.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: A. 1 only

Statement 1 is correct. Statement 2 is wrong: Raniganj is the oldest coalfield; Jharia is known as the main store of coking coal. So '2 only' and 'both' accept a wrong statement, and 'neither' rejects a correct one.

Q5. India's main source of thorium is

  1. pitchblende mined at Jaduguda
  2. monazite in coastal sands
  3. bauxite of the Eastern Ghats
  4. lignite of Neyveli
Show answer

Answer: B. monazite in coastal sands

Thorium comes from monazite in the beach sands of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Odisha. Jaduguda is a uranium mine; bauxite is the ore of aluminium; and Neyveli lignite is a low-grade coal.

Q6. Match List I with List II:
List I: A. Digboi B. Jamnagar C. Padur
List II: 1. Largest single-site refining complex 2. Strategic petroleum reserve 3. Oldest working refinery
Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. A-3, B-1, C-2
  2. A-1, B-3, C-2
  3. A-3, B-2, C-1
  4. A-2, B-1, C-3
Show answer

Answer: A. A-3, B-1, C-2

Digboi (1901) is the oldest working refinery, Jamnagar the largest single-site complex, and Padur a strategic reserve. The second code swaps Digboi and Jamnagar, the third swaps Jamnagar and Padur, and the fourth makes Digboi a reserve and Padur a refinery.

Q7. India's first nuclear power station was set up at

  1. Kalpakkam
  2. Rawatbhata
  3. Tarapur
  4. Kudankulam
Show answer

Answer: C. Tarapur

Tarapur in Maharashtra began working in 1969. Kalpakkam hosts the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor, Rawatbhata in Rajasthan came later, and Kudankulam was built much later with Russian help.

Q8. Consider the following statements:
1. Coal-based stations generated roughly three-quarters of India's electricity in 2023–24.
2. The International Solar Alliance was launched at the Paris climate summit in 2015.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
Show answer

Answer: C. Both 1 and 2

Both statements are correct: the Central Electricity Authority's figures put coal at about three-quarters of generation in 2023–24, and India and France launched the Alliance at Paris in 2015 (its headquarters is at Gurugram). So '1 only' and '2 only' each reject a correct statement, and 'neither' rejects both.

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Sources