About Coal
- India is one the richest countries in mineral resources in the world.
- Since India’s internal structure of the earth is the product of ancient hard rock’s therefore all types of minerals are found here.
- Gondwana rocks (Chhota Nagpur Plateau) are the richest mineral deposits in India.
- There are four types of coal found in India:
Anthracite (The best quality of coal found only in Jammu & Kashmir);
Bituminous (Second best quality of coal);
Lignite (Found in Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Jammu & Kashmir). Coal accounts for approx. - 67 % of the total commercial energy produced in India and 98% of India’s total account is found in the Gondwana rocks of the Moran region.
- The main regions of Gondwana rocks are found in West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha.
- The first effort made to extract coal with modern technology in India was at the Ranigunj coal region in West Bengal.
List of Major Coal Fields in India
| State | Coal Field |
| West Bengal | Ranigunj (Oldest coal field in India) |
| Jharkhand | Jharia (Largest), Bokaro, Dhanbad, Giridih, Karanpura, Ramgarh, Daltonganj |
| Madhya Pradesh | Singrauli, Suhagpur, Johila, Umaria, Satpura coalfield |
| Odisha | Talcher, Himgiri, Rampur |
| Andhra Pradesh | Kantapalli, Singareni |
| Chhattisgarh | Korba, Bisrampur, Sonhat, Jhilmil, Hasdo-Arand |
| Assam | Makum, Najira, Janji, Jaipur |
| Meghalaya | Umralong, Darrangiri, Cherrapunji, Mawlong, Langrin |
| Arunachal Pradesh | Naqmchik-Namphuk |
Coal is found in sedimentary rocks beneath the rock surface and is often called “Black Gold”.
