COAL RESOURCES OF INDIA
Coal in India is a prime source of industrial energy. It is an indispensable input in steel and
chemical industries. Together with lignite, it accounts for 59 per cent of the country’s
commercial power requirements.
98% of all coal deposits in India belong to the Gondwana age. Almost three-fourths of the
deposits are located in the Damodar River Valley. Coalfields associated with the Damodar River
Valley are Raniganj, Jharia, Giridih, Bokaro and Karanpura. The other river valleys associated
with coal deposits are the Godavari, Mahanadi, Son and Wardha. Other coal mining areas are in
the Satpura range and in Chattisgarh plains of Madhya Pradesh. The coalfields of Singreni in
Andhra Pradesh, Talcher in Orissa and Chanda in Maharashtra are also very large.
Coal mining in India started at Raniganj in West Bengal in 1774. After Independence the entire
coal mining was taken over by the State from private hands to avoid exploitation of labour. The
major coalfields after their regrouping are (1) Raniganj, (2.) Jharia, (3) East Bokaro and West
Bokaro, (4) Panch-Kanhan, Tawa Valley, (5) Singrauli, (6) Talchar, (7) Chanda-Wardha, and (8)
Godavari Valley.
Reserves and Production
The Geological Survey of India, according to its surveys, has put the country’s proven coal
reserves at nearly 276,810 million tones as on 01.04.2011. These are based on the seams of 0.5
metre and above in thickness and only to a depth of 1200 metres below the ground surface. The
major states known for coal reserves are Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Madhya
Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. By and large, the quality of Indian coal
is rather poor in terms of their capacity to give heat. However, the poor quality coal can be
converted into electricity and gas. This is the reason why many of our thermal and super thermal
power stations are located on the coalfields and the electricity produced is fed into large regional
grids. This cuts down time and expenditure involved in transportation of coal to its consumption
points. There are however, many coal-based thermal power plants located far away from the
coalfields, incurring wasteful expenditure on transportation.
The coal production in India, which was just 32.30 million tonnes in 1951, jumped to over
492.95 million tones during 2008-09. Thus the per capita consumption of coal has increased
from 135 kg to nearly 400 kg.
Indian lignite has less ash content than coal, and is consistent in quality. There are six lignite
mines operating in the country – three in Gujarat, two in Tamil Nadu and one in Rajasthan. The
deposits at Neyveli in Tamil Nadu are of the order of 3,300 million tonnes. Total reserves have
been estimated at 27,500 million tonnes. The mines, however, suffer from the artesian structure
and constant pumping of water is a formidable task. But the location of these deposits is a boon
for Tamil Nadu. It produces 600 mw of thermal power. The industrialization of the State depends
Coal Resources of India
S. Farooq, Department of Geology, AMU
considerably on the thermal power generated at Neyveli lignite field. In 1997-98 the total
production of lignite in the country was 18 million tonnes.
PRACTICAL EXERCISES
(Data in the Tables is required to be represented graphically)
As a result of exploration carried out up to the maximum depth of 1200m by the Geological
Survey of India (GSI), Coal India Limited (CIL), Singareni collieries Company Ltd. (SCCL) and
Mineral Exploration Corporation of India Ltd. (MECL) etc, a cumulative total of 285862.21
Million Tonnes of Geological Resources of Coal have so far been estimated in the country as on
1.4.2011. The details of state-wise geological resources of coal are given as under:
(A): GONDWANA COALFIELDS:
State
Andhra Pradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chhattisgarh
Jharkhand
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
Orissa
Sikkim
Uttar Pradesh
West Bengal
Total
Geological Resources of Coal (in Million Tonnes)
Proved
Indicated
Inferred
Total
9296.85
9728.37
3029.36
22054.58
0
2.79
0
2.79
0
0
160
160
12878.99
32390.38
4010.88
49280.25
39760.73
32591.56
6583.69
78935.98
8871.31
12191.72
2062.70
23125.73
5489.61
3094.29
1949.51
10533.41
24491.71
33986.96
10680.21
69158.88
0
58.25
42.98
101.23
866.05
195.75
0
1061.80
11752.54
13131.69
5070.69
29954.92
113407.79
137371.76
33590.02
284369.57
(B): TERTIARY COALFIELDS:
State
Arunachal Pradesh
Assam
Meghalaya
Nagaland
Total
Geological Resources of Coal (in Million Tonnes)
Proved
Indicated
Inferred
Inferred
(Exploration)
(Mapping)
31.23
40.11
12.89
6.00
464.78
42.72
0.50
2.52
89.04
16.51
27.58
443.35
8.76
0
8.60
298.05
593.81
99.34
49.57
749.92
(Source: Geological Survey of India)
Coal Resources of India
S. Farooq, Department of Geology, AMU
Total
90.23
510.52
576.48
315.41
1492.64
(C): CATEGORIZATION OF RESOURCES:
The coal resources of India are available in older Gondwana Formations of peninsular India and
younger Tertiary formations of north-eastern region. Based on the results of Regional/
Promotional Exploration, where the boreholes are normally placed 1-2 Km apart, the resources
are classified into ‘Indicated’ or ‘Inferred’ category. Subsequent Detailed Exploration in selected
blocks, where boreholes are less than 400 meter apart, upgrades the resources into more reliable
‘Proved’ category. The Formation-wise and Category-wise coal resources of India as on
1.4.2010 are given in table below:
Formation
Gondwana Coals
Tertiary Coals
Total
Proved
113407.79
593.81
114001.60
Indicated
Inferred
(in Million Tonnes)
137371.76
33590.02
99.34
799.49*
137471.10
34389.51
Total
284369.57
1492.64
285862.21
* Includes 749.92 M.T. of Inferred resources established through mapping in North-Eastern
region.
(D): TYPE AND CATEGORY-WISE COAL RESOURCES OF INDIA:
The Type and Category-wise coal resources of India as on 1.4.2011 are given in table below :Type of Coal
(in Million Tonnes)
(A) Coking :-Prime Coking
-Medium Coking
-Semi-Coking
Sub-Total Coking
(B) Non-Coking:(C) Tertiary Coal
Grand Total
Proved
4614.35
12572.52
482.16
17669.03
95738.76
593.81
114001.60
Indicated
698.71
12001.32
1003.29
13703.32
12368.44
99.34
137471.10
Inferred
0
1880.23
221.68
2101.91
31488.11
799.49*
34389.51
Total
5313.06
26454.07
1707.13
33474.26
250895.31
1492.64
285862.21
* Includes 749.92 M.T. of Inferred resources established through mapping in North-Eastern
region.
(E): STATUS OF COAL RESOURCES IN INDIA DURING LAST FIVE YEARS:
As a result of Regional, Promotional and Detailed Exploration by GSI, CIL and SCCL etc, the
estimation of coal resources of India has reached to 267.21 Bt. The estimates of coal resources in
the country during last 5 years are given below:
Coal Resources of India
S. Farooq, Department of Geology, AMU
Geological Resources of Coal (in Million Tonnes)
As on
1.1.2006
1.4.2007
1.4.2008
1.4.2009
1.4.2010
Proved
95866
99060
101829
105820
109798
Coal Resources of India
S. Farooq, Department of Geology, AMU
Indicated
119769
120177
124216
123470
130654
Inferred
37666
38144
38490
37920
36358
Total
253301
257381
264535
267210
276810