Government of Tamilnadu

Department of Employment and Training

Course : TNPSC Group I Exam

Subject : Geography
Topic : Minerals in India

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Commissioner,
Department of Employment and Training

MINERALS IN INDIA
A mineral is a natural substance of
organic or inorganic origin with definite
chemical and physical properties. A
rock which has large concentration of a
particular mineral is called the ore of that
mineral.
Characteristics of minerals:
1. They are unevenly distributed over
the surface of the Earth.
2. No country in the world is self-
sufficient in all the minerals.
3. Most of the minerals have
impurities.
4. Minerals are exhaustible.
Geography
Various stages of development
have been named after minerals,
such as:
1. The Stone Age: Man made weapons
and implements from stones.
2. Copper was probably the first metal
that man learnt to mine and with its
use started the Copper Age.
3. The Bronze Age started when man
developed a stronger and more
durable metal by mixing copper
and tin.
4. About 3000 years ago, the Bronze
Age was replaced by the lron Age.
5. Iron Age came to be replaced by the
Steel Age in the modern times.

 Geography

Metallic minerals: produced in our country,out of which 30

The metallic minerals contain metals
such as iron, copper, manganese, bauxite,
gold, etc. The metallic minerals are further
divided into:
a. Ferrous minerals, which have iron
contents, such as iron, manganese,
nickel, cobalt, tungsten, etc.
b. Non-ferrous minerals do not have
from contents, such as gold, silver,
copper, bauxite, etc.
Non-metallic minerals:
a) The non-metallic minerals do not
contain metals, such as mica,
limestone, gypsum, potash, coal.
b) Some non-metallic minerals are also
regarded as the mineral fuels, such
as coal and petroleum.
Distribution of Minerals
It has been estimated that nearly
100 different minerals are known to be
may be considered quite important. Most
of the metallic minerals are found in the
peninsular plateau region, especially in
the old crystalline rocks. The minerals
are generally concentrated in three belts.
There may be some occurrences here and
there in isolated pockets.
The three belts are as under: The
Northeastern Plateau region, the
Southwestern Plateau region and the
Northwestern region.
Iron Ore:
Iron is the backbone of modern
civilization and is a metal of universal use.
It is a durable and cheap metal which can
be moulded in different forms and can be
mixed with other metals to form alloys. Iron
is not found in pure form. It is often mixed
with lime, magnesium, phosphorous,
silicon, etc.

NAME CHARACTERISTICS IRON CONTENT

Haematite It is reddish in color, so it is also known as red- 60-70%
ochre.
Magnetite The color of the ore is dark brown to blackish and is 70%
known as black ore. It has magnetic properties.
Limonite It is yellow or light brown in color. It is called hydrated 40- 60%
iron oxide, when the iron ore in mixed with oxygen
and water. Its mining is easier and cheaper.
Siderite It is an inferior variety of iron ore and has many 20- 40%
impurities. It is also called iron carbonate.


 Geography

Reserves of Iron Ore Jharkhand: PurviSinghbhum, Paschimi

India has about 20 per cent of the Singhbhum and Palamau districts, at
world’s total reserves of iron ore. About 75 Charia in Singhbhum district. A major
per cent of the total reserves of the iron ore part of the iron ore production goes to
in India are of haematite grade. Rourkela, Bokaro, and IISCO steel plants.
Jharkhand, Orissa, Karnataka, Madhya The exports are mainly through Haldia
Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Goa, have about port.
97 per cent of the total iron ore reserves of Karnataka: The bulk of the production
India. (more than 90 per cent) comes from
State/Area Percentage of the Bellary district, followed by Chitradurga,
Reserves Chikmagalur, Bijapur, Tumkur, etc. The
1. Jharkhand 25.7 state is the second largest producer of iron
2. Orissa 21.6 ore in India.
3. Karnataka 20.7 Goa: It is the third largest producer
4. MP-Chattisgarh 18.5 of iron ore and most of the production
5. Goa 10.5 comes from the mines in North Goa.
6. Maharashtra 1.8 The ore is of inferior quality. Almost the
7. Others 1.2 entire production from Goa is exported to
Japan.
Orissa: The high grade haematite variety
AREAS OF IRON ORE of iron ore is found in the Mayurbhanj,
PRODUCTION Keonjhar and Sundargarh districts. The
other producing districts or areas are
Today India is the largest producer
Sambalpur, Cuttack and Korapur.
of iron ore in Asia and seventh largest
Andhra Pradesh: The main iron ore
producer in the world. Most of the iron
producing centres are in the districts
ore mined in India are of Haematite and
of Anantapur, Khammam, Kurnool,
Magnetite varieties. These ores have
Cuddapah, Krishna and Nellore.
high percentage of iron contents and low
Tamil Nadu: Most of iron ore with 35
sulphur contents.
to 50 per cent of iron contents are found
Madhya Pradesh-Chattisgarh: Durg,
in Salem, North Arcot, Tiruchchirappalli,
Bastar and Jabalpur districts. Bailadila
Coimbatore and Madurai districts.
range in Bastar and Dhalli-Raihara range
Others:
in Durg are the main producing regions.
Some production of iron ore is from
Raigarh, Bilaspur, Mandla, Balagat and
Ratnagiri, Chandrapur, Satara and Bandara
Surguja districts.
districts in Maharashtra; Bhilwara and


 Geography

Udaipur districts in Rajasthan; Junagarh There are three main areas of manganese
and Bhavnagar districts in Gujarat; production in our country.
Mahendragarh district in Haryana; 1. The northeastern region,
Rajauri, Jammu and Udhampur districts comprising Orissa and Jharkhand.
in Jammu and Kashmir; and in some The reserves are about 19 per cent
parts of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and and the production is about 33 per
Himachal Pradesh. cent.
2. The central region, comprising
Trade of Iron Ore:
Madhya Pradesh and north
Exported to Japan, South Korea, East
Maharashtra. The reserves are about
European Countries and the Gulf region.
15 per cent and the production is
The main ports handing the export are
about 39 per cent.
Marmugao, Vishakhapatanam, Paradip,
3. The peninsular region, comprising
Mangalore, Haldia and Chennai.
Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Goa
Manganese:
and south Maharashtra. The
Manganese is a black hard and iron-like
reserves are about 45 per cent and
metal, which is widely used in the making
the production is about 30 per cent.
of iron and steel and in the manufacture
Orissa:
of ferro-manganese alloys. It is also used
It is the largest producer (33 per cent)
in the manufacture of bleaching powder,
of manganese in the country. The ore has
dry cell batteries, enamel, insecticides,
high iron and low phosphorus contents.
plastics, glazed potteries, matches, glass
Districts: Keonjhar, Sundargarth,
and chemical industries.
Korapur, Kalahandi, Mayurbhanj, Talcher
Occurrence and Reserves of Manganese
and Bolangir districts.
In India
Madhya Pradesh:
The highest occurrence of manganese
It is the third largest producer (20 per
ore in India is found in the Dhawar system
cent) of manganese in the country. The
of rocks. India has 20 per cent of the total
main producing districts are Balaghat,
known reserves in the world. The main
Chhindwara, Jabalpur and Jhabua. Small
reserves are in Karnataka, Orissa, Madhya
deposits are also found in Dewas, Sehore
Pradesh, Maharashtra and Goa. Some
and Nimar districts.
reserves also occur in Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka:
Jharkhand, Gujarat, Rajasthan and West
With largest reserves of manganese, the
Bengal.
state is the fourth largest producer (14 per
Areas of Manganese Production in
cent) in the country.
India
Districts: Bellary is the most important
India is the fifth largest producer of
producer followed by Shimoga, Chitradurga,
manganese in the world, after Brazil,
Tumkur and Belgaum districts.
Gabon, South Africa and Australia.



Others:
The other producing states are Andhra
Pradesh (Srikakulam and Vishakhapatnam
districts), Rajasthan, Goa, Gujarat,
Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal.
Bauxite:
Bauxite, a clay-like substance, is the
ore of aluminium. Due to its lightness,
strength, malleability, ductility, heat and
electrical conductivity and resistance to
atmospheric corrosion, aluminium has
become one of the most useful metals in
the present age. Converting bauxite into
aluminium, depends on the availability of
cheap and enough electricity.
Reserves of Bauxite in India:
The Indian reserves of bauxite are the
fifth largest in the world after Guinea,
Australia, Brazil and Vietnam. More than
half of India’s bauxite reserves are in
Orissa and Andhra Pradesh states.
Recently extensive deposits of bauxite
have been discovered in the Jammu and
Poonch areas of the Jammu and Kashmir
state. The other states which have rich
reserves of bauxite are Jharkhand,
Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and
Uttar Pradesh.
Areas of Bauxite Production
About 90 per cent of bauxite in our
country is of metallic grade. There has been
a significant progress in the production of
bauxite in India.
Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Gujarat,
Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh,
Chattisgarh and Tamil Nadu.
Limestone
Geography
Limestone (calcium carbonate) is
associated with rocks composed of
carbonate of calcium and magnesium or
mixture of the two. Limestone deposits are
of sedimentary origin and exist in almost
all geological formations except in the
Gondwana region.Of the total consumption,
75 per cent is used in cement industry, 16
per cent in iron and steel industry, 4 per
cent in chemical industry and the rest in
paper, sugar, fertilizers, ferro-manganese,
glass and rubber industries.
Areas of Limestone Production
Almost all the states in India produce
some quantities of limestone, but about
75 per cent of the total production comes
from Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh,
Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and
Karnataka
Coal:
Coal, a mineral fuel, is the main
source of energy in India. Coal is an
organic substance, composed mainly of
hydrocarbons, found in the sedimentary
rocks. In the geological past, large areas
under thick forests were buried under
the sediments. The heat and pressure of
the overlying sediments together with the
earth movement led to the formation of
coal. Coal’s capacity to give energy depends
upon its carbon content.
Types of Coal
Coal can be grouped in four types,
such as peat, lignite, bituminous and
anthracite.

 Geography

Type Carbon Characteristics Occurence

Content
PEAT less than 40 % It has a high percentage of
moisture and volatile matter. It
leaves a large amount of ash.
LIGNITE 40- 60% Lignite is soft, but more compact Rajasthan, Tamil
than peat. It has large percentage Nadu, Assam
of moisture and less amount of and Jammu and
combustible matter. Kashmir
BITUMINOUS 60- 80% The moisture and the volatile Jharkhand,
contents are also less. In this type Orissa, West-
of coal is also known bunker coal Bengal, Madhya
to the sailors. It is widely used in Pradesh and
the making of coke and gas. Coke Chhattisgarh.
is mainly used in the iron and
steel industry for smelting iron
ore in blast furnaces.
ANTHRACITE 80- 90% It has no volatile matter. It Only in Jammu
does not ignite easily, but once and Kashmir,
lighted, it has the highest heating and that too
capacity. It burns for a long time in very small
and leaves very little ash behind. quantity.

Occurrence of Coal in India:

The coalfields in India are classified into
two groups:
1. The Gondwana Coalfields: Mostly
in river valleys, such as Damodar,
Mahanadi, Son, Godavari, in 1972 and the formation of Coal India
Wardha, Narmada, etc.
2. The Tertiary Coalfields: Assam,
Meghalaya, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan,
Gujarat and Arunachal Pradesh.
Rapid industrial development after
independence gave a great boost to coal
production in India. It further increased
after the nationalization of coal mines
Ltd. in 1975.
Coal Production in India
India is the fourth largest coal producer
in the world.
About 80 percent of the coal deposits
in India is of bituminous type, and is of



non-cooking grade. About 75 percent of
lignite production comes from Neyveli
in Tamil Nadu and the rest from
Kachchh district of Gujarat.
Problems of Coal Mining In India
 Coal distribution is highly uneven
throughout India.
 Coal-consuming industries have to
pay a high price for coal.
 Much of the Indian coal is non-
coking grade. This is unsuitable for
metallurgical industries.
 The problem in transportation arises
due to lack of railway facilities,
variation in gauges, shortage
of wagons, slow movement of
trains, pilferage, etc.
 The coal mining techniques are old
and outdated.
Coal dust in the mines near the pit-
heads
 Create environmental pollution.
 The safety measures are expensive.
 There are heavy losses due to
pilferage, and fire in the coal mines
and at pit-heads.
 Power shortage.
Petroleum
Petroleum is found in the underground
reservoirs associated with sedimentary
rocks. In some reservoirs the mineral oil
is found in association with natural gas.
Petroleum is a compact and convenient
fuel, which has revolutionized land, air
and water transportation. It can be easily
transported through pipelines from the
Geography
producing centres to the consuming
areas.
Origin and Occurrence of Petroleum
The crude petroleum deposits are found
only in the sedimentary rock basins of
marine origin. But all sedimentary rocks
do not contain mineral oil. Petroleum has
an organic origin and is formed by the
gradual decay and compression of various
marine deposits.
They remain buried for millions of years
and the decomposition of the organic
matter has led to the formation of mineral
oil.
Reserves of Petroleum in India
1. The Terai zone running parallel to
the Himalayas from Jammu and
Kashmir to Assam.
2. River basins of Ganga, Satluj, etc.
including deltaic tracts of Ganga,
Mahanadi, Godavari, Krishna and
Kaveri.
3. The continental shelf along the
Western Coast, Gulf of Cambay, and
the islands in the Arabian Sea and
the Bay of Bengal.
Areas of Petroleum Production
Until 1953, Digboi was the sole
producer of mineral oil in India. There are
four main petroleum producing regions in
our country.
1. Two of them are on-shore-the
Brahmaputra valley and the Gujarat
Coast.
2. The other two are off-shore-the
western coast off-shore oilfields and the


eastern coast off-shore started in 1961. The petroleum is rich
oilfields.
About two-third of the total petroleum
production in India comes from the off-
shore oilfields.
The Brahmaputra Valley
It is the oldest oil producing region in
India. The main oil producing fields are
at Digboi, Moran-Hugrijan, NaharKatiya,
Rudrasagar, Surma Valley, etc. in the
districts of Dibrugarh and Sibsagar in
Assam.
The crude petroleum from Digboi is sent
to Digboi refinery and from NaharKatiya
to Noonmati and Barauni refineries.
The Moran-Hugrijan is located 40 km
southwest of NaharKatiya. The crude oil
is sent to the Barauni refinery. Some oil-
fields have been located in Tripura and
Arunachal Pradesh.
The Gujarat Coast
This is the second largest petroleum
producing area in India. This area has two
distinct oil-bearing belts-Gulf of Cambay
(Cambay and Ankleshwar) and the area
from Kaira to Mehsana (Kalol, Navgam,
Bacharji and Mehsana).
The Cambay oil-fields lie about 60 km
west of Vadodara. The crude oil has less
sulphur and more wax. The commercial
production in the Ankleshwar region
Geography
in kerosene and gasoline. The entire
production is sent to Kovali and Trombay
refineries. The Ahamedabad - Kalol area is
located towards the north of the Cambay
basin. The other oil-fields are in Kosamba,
Kathana, Sanad, Dholka, Bakrol, Kadi,
etc.
The Off-Shore Oilfields
Kuchchh, Khambat, Konkan, Malabar
Coast, Coromandel Coast, Sundarbans
and Krishna-Godavari delta.
The West Coast off-shore oilfields
the ONGC has discovered oilfields at
Mumbai High(1974, The petroleum has a
higher percentage of petrol and kerosene),
Bassein and Aliabet.
The Eastern the Coast Off-shore
Oilfields Petroleum and natural gas
have been discovered in the basin and
delta regions of Godavari, Krishna and
Kaveri rivers. These oil fields are likely to
contribute to about 3 to 4 million tonnes
of crude oil every year.
Reserves of crude oil have also been
discovered in Bilaspur (UP), Jawalamukhi
(Punjab), Barmer (Rajasthan), etc.
Oil Refineries
The first oil refinery was commissioned
at Digboi (Assam) in 1901, with a capacity
of two lakh tonnes per year.

 Geography

OIL REFINERIES IN INDIA

Refinery State Year of
commissioning
1. Digboi (IOC) Assam 1901
2. Trombay (HPCL) Maharashtra 1954
3. Trombay (BPCL) Maharashtra 1955
4. Vishakhapatnam (HPCL) Andhra Pradesh 1957
5.Noonmati (IOC) Assam 1962
6. Barauni (IOC) Bihar 1964
7. Koyali (IOC) Gujarat 1965
8. Kochi (BPCL) Kerala 1966

9. Chennai (IOC) Tamil Nadu 1969

10. Haldia (IOC) West Bengal 1975

11. Bongaigaon (IOC) Assam 1979

12. Mathura (IOC) Uttar Pradesh 1982
13. Mangalore (MRPL) Karnataka 1996
14. Jamnagar (RIL) Gujarat 1999
15. Panipat (IOC) Haryana 1997
16. Tatipaka Andhra Pradesh
17. Nagapattinum Tamil Nadu

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