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RESOURCES
• India has a variety of mineral resources that play a
very important role in the industrial development of
the country.
• India has large deposits of Iron ore, manganese ore
and bauxite ore.
• India has a virtual monopoly over mica.
• India is self-sufficient in coal but coking coal is
limited.
• India has small deposits of zinc, copper, lead and
gold.
• It lacks sulphur and is poor in the production of
mineral oil and natural gas. We have small deposits
of minerals required for nuclear energy.
IRON ORE
• India has some of the world’s largest reserves of iron ore.
• India stands second, next to Russia, in the world in iron ore reserves.
• The two important types of iron ores available in India are hematite and
magnetite.
• Orissa and Jharkhand have the largest iron ore deposit in India. The richest
iron ore belt is the U-shaped range from Singhbhum district in Jharkhand
passing through Keonghar, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh districts in Orissa.
• The ore is hematite with 60-65% of iron. Raipur, Durg and Bastar districts of
Chhattisgarh are noted for iron ore production.
• There are iron ore reserves in Goa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu and Karnataka.
Kemmangundi in Chikkamagalur district, Hospet and Sandur in Bellary district
in Karnataka have hematite ore.
• In recent years magnetite ore is mined at Kudremukh in Karnataka.
Maharashtra also has some iron ore deposits.
• The iron ore produced in India is used by the iron and steel plants located in
Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Karnataka
and Andhra Pradesh.
• India exports iron ore to Japan and other countries thus earning foreign
exchange. Japan imports 55% of the total iron ore produced in India. Iron ore is
exported through the ports of Marmagoa, Mangalore, Vishakhapatnam,
Paradeep and Haldia.
• The other countries which import iron ore from India are China, Italy, Iran etc.
MANGANESE ORE
• Manganese ore is an important ferro-alloy, which is smelted
with iron ore to produce steel.
• The hardness of steel depends on the quantity of manganese
ore used in its production.
• Manganese ore is also used in chemical industry, electrical
industry and production of varnishes.
• Indian manganese ore is high quality. Pyrolusite and
psilomelane are the important ores of manganese.
• Orissa, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra are the
important manganese ore producing states of India.
• The other states which produce manganese ore are Bihar,
Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Goa.
• Most of the manganese ore deposits are close to the iron ore
deposits and this is convenient for the production of steel.
• India exports manganese ore through Haldia, Vishakhapatnam,
Marmagoa and Mumbai ports to the USA, Europe and Japan.
MICA
• India has the largest deposits of mica in the world
and has monopoly over mica. 60% of the world's
total production of mica comes from India.
• It has some special qualities, the important among
them are insulation and elasticity. So it is very useful
in electrical industry, which has a great demand.
• Indian mica is considered to be the best mica in the
world.
• The important states, which produce mica, are
Jharkhand, Bihar, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.
Hazaribagh district in Jharkand and Gaya and
Munger districts of Bihar produce nearly half of
India’s mica.
• Most of India’s mica is exported to the USA, Britain,
Germany and France.
COPPER
• It is a very good conductor of heat. It is used
in electrical industry.
• Copper was used by early civilisations for
household utensils.
• Most of India’s copper is found in Bihar,
Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Tamilnadu and Madhya Pradesh.
• India’s production of copper is not sufficient
to meet the country’s demand. So we import
copper from the USA, Canada, Zambia,
Japan and East Africa.
GOLD
• India has very small deposits of gold.
• Until India attained Independence the only gold
mines were Kolar Gold Fields. Now, the gold is
mined at Hutti in Raichur district of Karnataka and
Ananthpur district of Andhra Pradesh.
• Kolar Gold Fields are very deep and gold is getting
exhausted. Many mines are being
closed down.
• Gold deposits in small quantities are also found in
Bihar, Kerala and Tamilnadu.
• Gold in the form of veins is found in quartz rocks at
Kappatagudda near Gadag district in Karnataka
state.
POWER RESOURCES
• Power resources is one of the most
important natural resources and is very
essential for the economic
development of a country.
• Coal, petroleum, natural gas, hydel
power and nuclear power are some of
the important power resources.
• The other power resources are wind
energy, tidal energy, geothermal
energy, solar energy and biogas.
COAL
• Coal is the most important source of energy in India. About 98% of India’s coal
belongs to the Gondwana Age. During this period, luxuriant forests were
submerged and after millions of years, due to a lot of heat and pressure, they
were converted into coal.
• Coal is not only a power resource but it also provides many bi-products.
• Coal is known as “Black diamond”. Anthracite and Bituminous coal are the two
kinds of coal.
• The coalfields are widely distributed in Damodar river valley. Chhattisgarh,
Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal states produce 89% of
India’s coal.
• Chhattisgarh has the largest coal deposits. Jharia, Bokaro, Giridih and
Karanpur are important coalfields.
• Jharia has the best coking coal, which is required for smelting of iron ore. It is
the largest producer of coking coal in India.
• Raniganj coalfield is the largest coalfield in India.
• Coal is in great demand for railway engines, steamers and for the production of
thermal energy.
• The river valleys of Godavari, Mahanadi, Son and Wardha have smaller
coalfields. The important coalfields are Sohagpur of Madhya Pradesh and
Korba of Chhattisgarh. There are also coalfields in Maharashtra, Andhra
Pradesh and Orissa. Indian coal is poor in quality.
• The superior coking coal is used for smelting iron ore and the inferior coal is
used for the production of thermal energy.
a) Lower Gondwana Coalfields in India:
State Sub division Coalfields
Raniganj (Trans Barakar),Bankura
West Bengal
Darjeeling District Bagrakote, Tindharia
Satpura Region MOhpani, Sonada, Sahpur (Tawa), Dulhara (Tawa), Pathakera, Bamhanwara, , , .
Maharashtra Kamptee, Bandar, Warora, Rajur (Wun), Ghugus – Telwasa, Chanda, Ballarpur, Wamanapalli,
Mahanadi Valley
Antargaon – Aksapur, Sasti – Rajpura.
Tandur Kanala, North Godavari, South Godavari, Jangam, Chinur-Sendrapalli, Kamavaram, Bandala –
Andhra Pradesh Pranhita –Godavari Valley
Alapalli, Singareni (yellendu), Lingala, Kothagudium, Damar-cherla, Kannergiri, Beddadanuru.
Gujrat Ghunkeri