Geography
Mineral and Energy Resources
GS Paper I
Mineral and Energy Resources — Quick Revision
One-page UPSC revision of India's minerals and energy: mineral belts, mine–mineral pairs, coal types, oil fields, nuclear minerals, renewables and mining law.
SyllabusGS I · Distribution of key natural resources across the world, including South Asia and the Indian subcontinent
A last-week revision sheet for minerals and energy. Prelims lives on mine–mineral–State pairs.
Mine–Mineral–State
| Place | Mineral | State |
|---|---|---|
| Bailadila | Iron ore (high-grade haematite) | Chhattisgarh |
| Kudremukh | Iron ore | Karnataka |
| Noamundi, Gua | Iron ore | Jharkhand |
| Badampahar | Iron ore | Odisha |
| Balaghat | Manganese | Madhya Pradesh |
| Malanjkhand | Copper | Madhya Pradesh |
| Khetri | Copper | Rajasthan |
| Panchpatmali (Koraput) | Bauxite | Odisha |
| Koderma | Mica | Jharkhand |
| Hutti | Gold | Karnataka |
| Jaduguda | Uranium | Jharkhand |
| Jharia, Raniganj, Bokaro | Coal (Gondwana) | Jharkhand / West Bengal |
| Neyveli | Lignite | Tamil Nadu |
| Digboi | Petroleum (oldest) | Assam |
| Ankleshwar | Petroleum | Gujarat |
Coal
| Type | Quality |
|---|---|
| Anthracite | Highest carbon; best quality |
| Bituminous | Most used; coking grades for steel |
| Lignite | Low grade; high moisture (Neyveli) |
| Peat | Lowest |
| Formation | Age (NCERT) | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Gondwana | ~200 million years | Damodar, Mahanadi, Godavari, Son, Wardha valleys |
| Tertiary | ~55 million years | Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland |
Energy
| Source | Key places / facts |
|---|---|
| Nuclear | Uranium (Jaduguda); thorium (monazite sands); three-stage programme; PFBR at Kalpakkam |
| Solar | Rajasthan (Bhadla), Gujarat |
| Wind | Tamil Nadu (Muppandal), Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka |
| Tidal | Gulf of Khambhat, Gulf of Kachchh, Sundarbans |
| Geothermal | Puga valley (Ladakh), Manikaran (HP) |
| Targets | 500 GW non-fossil by 2030 (COP26); ~50% non-fossil installed capacity by 2030 (NDC 2022); net zero 2070 |
High-yield facts
- Magnetite = highest iron content (up to 70%); haematite = most important industrial ore.
- Bauxite forms in laterite; mica has high di-electric strength.
- MMDR Act 1957 → 2015 (auctions, DMF) → 2023 (lithium and five others removed from atomic minerals; Centre auctions critical minerals).
- 30 critical minerals (Ministry of Mines, June 2023); National Critical Mineral Mission (January 2025).
- Reasi lithium (2023) is an inferred (G3) resource, not a proven reserve.
Common Traps
Watch for these
- Koderma = mica, not manganese; Kudremukh = iron, not bauxite.
- Most Indian coal is Gondwana bituminous, not anthracite.
- Thorium comes from monazite sands, not from uranium mines.
Related Topics
- Mineral Belts and Energy Resources of India
- Mineral and Energy Resources — practice questions
- Location of Industries
- All quick revision sheets
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