Mineral and Energy Resources

Why this chapter matters for UPSC: Minerals and energy are classic map-and-distribution material for Prelims (which district, which belt, which coalfield) and a GS3 theme for Mains (energy security, the renewable transition, nuclear power, mining and its costs). Mains has asked why Gondwana-rich India gets so little GDP from mining, whether coal mining is inevitable, about atomic energy and shale, the spatial limits of wind power, regional variation in solar, renewable targets and 50% renewable energy by 2030. In the 2026-27 NCERT reprint this is Chapter 5, "Mineral and Energy Resources", lightly trimmed: the natural-gas paragraph is rewritten (CNG, PNG and city gas distribution) and a few boxes are dropped.

Contemporary hook: On 31 March 2026 India had 150.26 GW of solar and 56.09 GW of wind capacity, part of 274.69 GW of renewable capacity including large hydro (MNRE); with 8.78 GW of nuclear, non-fossil sources had already passed half of India's installed capacity in June 2025. On 6 April 2026 the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam reached first criticality, a step into the second stage of India's nuclear programme, built to use India's large thorium resources in the long run. Coal still dominates generation: India mined about 1,084 million tonnes in 2025, second only to China.

🧠 First Principles — Read This First

Geology decides where minerals are. India's valuable minerals are mostly products of pre-Palaeozoic age, associated with the metamorphic and igneous rocks of the peninsula; the vast alluvial plain of the north has almost none of economic use. So the metallic minerals lie in the old crystalline plateau, most major mineral resources lie east of a line from Mangaluru to Kanpur, coal sits in a few river valleys where Gondwana rocks survive (over 97% of reserves in the Damodar, Sone, Mahanadi and Godavari valleys), and petroleum lies in the younger sedimentary basins of Assam, Gujarat and offshore Mumbai. Learn the belts and the rock types, and the district lists follow.

Minerals run out; that shapes energy policy. NCERT names three characteristics of minerals: they are unevenly distributed, good quality comes in smaller quantity than poor quality, and all are exhaustible, taking geological time to form, "as they do not have the second crop". Fossil fuels and nuclear minerals are exhaustible; solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and biomass are renewable, more evenly spread and cleaner. The chapter's two halves, where minerals are and how energy is produced, meet in its conclusion: conserve minerals (recycle, substitute, restrict exports of scarce ones) and develop renewable energy.

PART 1 — Quick Reference

Classification of Minerals (NCERT Fig. 5.1)

Mineral Belts of India (NCERT)

India in World Mineral and Energy Output (latest)

India's Non-Fossil Power Capacity, 31 March 2026 (MNRE)

PART 2 — Concepts & Narrative

Types and Characteristics of Minerals

A mineral is "a natural substance of organic or inorganic origin with definite chemical and physical properties". Metallic minerals are the sources of metals: ferrous ones contain iron (iron ore itself, manganese, chromite), non-ferrous ones do not (copper, bauxite). Non-metallic minerals are either organic in origin, the mineral fuels (coal and petroleum, derived from buried plant and animal life), or inorganic (mica, limestone, graphite). Their three characteristics: uneven distribution, an inverse relation between quality and quantity, and exhaustibility.

Distribution: the Belts

Most metallic minerals occur in the old crystalline rocks of the peninsular plateau. Over 97% of coal reserves lie in the valleys of the Damodar, Sone, Mahanadi and Godavari. Petroleum reserves are in the sedimentary basins of Assam, Gujarat and Mumbai High (offshore in the Arabian Sea), with new finds in the Krishna-Godavari and Kaveri basins. Most major mineral resources lie east of a line linking Mangaluru and Kanpur. NCERT groups them into three broad belts plus the Himalayan belt (table above). The north-eastern plateau is the most diversified; the south-western lacks coal; the north-western, along the Aravalli, is rich in non-ferrous metals and building stones.

Ferrous Minerals

India is well placed in ferrous minerals, the base of metallurgical industries.

Iron ore. NCERT says India has the largest iron ore reserves in Asia, with two main ores, haematite and magnetite, in demand abroad for their quality; the mines lie close to the coalfields of the north-eastern plateau. About 95% of reserves are in Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Goa, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The main areas and mines:

• Odisha: hill ranges of Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj and Jhar; mines at Gurumahisani, Sulaipet, Badampahar (Mayurbhanj), Kiriburu (Kendujhar) and Bonai (Sundargarh).
• Jharkhand: some of the oldest mines, with steel plants around them; Noamundi and Gua in Purbi and Pashchimi Singhbhum.
• Chhattisgarh: the belt continues to Durg, Dantewada and Bailadila; Dalli and Rajhara in Durg.
• Karnataka: Sandur-Hospet (Ballari), Baba Budan hills and Kudremukh (Chikkamagaluru), and parts of Shivamogga, Chitradurga and Tumakuru.
• Others: Chandrapur, Bhandara and Ratnagiri (Maharashtra); Karimnagar and Warangal (Telangana); Kurnool, Cuddapah and Anantapur (Andhra Pradesh); Salem and Nilgiris (Tamil Nadu); and Goa, an important producer.

On the US Geological Survey's 2026 figures, India's iron ore reserves are 5,500 million tonnes of crude ore (3,400 Mt of iron content), against China's 17,000 Mt of crude ore (3,000 Mt iron content): India's lead in Asia holds by iron content but not by tonnage of ore. India produced an estimated 310 Mt of usable ore in 2025, third after Australia (980 Mt) and Brazil (420 Mt).

Manganese is a raw material for smelting iron ore and for ferro-alloys, found in almost all geological formations but mainly associated with the Dharwar system. Madhya Pradesh and Odisha lead: in Odisha the mines are in the centre of the iron ore belt (Bonai, Kendujhar, Sundargarh, Gangpur, Koraput, Kalahandi, Bolangir); in Madhya Pradesh in the Balaghat-Chhindwara-Nimar-Mandla belt and Jhabua. Karnataka (Dharwar, Ballari, Belagavi, North Canara, Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, Chitradurga, Tumakuru) and Maharashtra (Nagpur, Bhandara, Ratnagiri, far from the steel plants) also produce it; Telangana, Goa and Jharkhand are minor producers. India was the world's sixth producer in 2025 (USGS).

Non-Ferrous Minerals

India is "poorly endowed" with non-ferrous metallic minerals except bauxite.

Bauxite, the ore of aluminium, is found mainly in tertiary deposits associated with laterite on the plateaus and hill ranges of the peninsula and in coastal tracts. Odisha is the largest producer (Kalahandi and Sambalpur, with Bolangir and Koraput rising); the patlands of Lohardaga in Jharkhand are rich; Gujarat (Bhavnagar, Jamnagar), Chhattisgarh (Amarkantak plateau), Madhya Pradesh (Katni-Jabalpur, Balaghat) and Maharashtra (Kolaba, Thane, Ratnagiri, Satara, Pune, Kolhapur) also produce it. India was the world's fifth producer in 2025 (USGS).

Copper is indispensable for electrical wires, motors, transformers and generators; it is malleable and ductile and hardens gold in jewellery. Deposits are mainly in Singhbhum (Jharkhand), Balaghat (Madhya Pradesh) and Jhunjhunu and Alwar (Rajasthan); minor ones at Agnigundala (Guntur, Andhra Pradesh), Chitradurga and Hassan (Karnataka) and South Arcot (Tamil Nadu).

Non-Metallic Minerals: Mica

Mica, used in the electrical and electronic industries, can be split into very thin, tough, flexible sheets. It is produced in Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Rajasthan, then Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. The high-quality belt in Jharkhand is about 150 km long and 22 km wide in the lower Hazaribagh plateau; Nellore (Andhra Pradesh) produces the best quality; in Rajasthan the belt runs about 320 km from Jaipur to Bhilwara and around Udaipur. Other deposits: Mysuru and Hassan, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli, Madurai and Kanniyakumari, Alleppey, Ratnagiri, Purulia and Bankura. Limestone, dolomite and phosphate are other non-metallic minerals mined for local use.

Energy Resources: Coal

Coal is used mainly for thermal power and smelting iron ore. It occurs in rocks of two ages, Gondwana and tertiary. About 80% of India's coal is bituminous and of non-coking grade. The most important Gondwana coalfields are in the Damodar valley, in the Jharkhand-Bengal belt: Raniganj, Jharia, Bokaro, Giridih and Karanpura, with Jharia the largest, followed by Raniganj. Other valleys with coal are the Godavari, Mahanadi and Sone; the main mining centres include Singrauli (Madhya Pradesh, partly in Uttar Pradesh), Korba (Chhattisgarh), Talcher and Rampur (Odisha), Chanda-Wardha, Kamptee and Bander (Maharashtra), Singareni (Telangana) and Pandur (Andhra Pradesh). Tertiary coal occurs in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland: Darangiri, Cherrapunji, Mewlong and Langrin (Meghalaya), Makum, Jaipur and Nazira (upper Assam), Namchik-Namphuk (Arunachal Pradesh) and Kalakot (Jammu and Kashmir). Lignite (brown coal) occurs in coastal Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir.

Petroleum and Natural Gas

Crude petroleum is a mixture of liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons, the fuel of internal combustion engines in vehicles, railways and aircraft, and the raw material of petrochemicals (fertiliser, synthetic rubber and fibre, medicines, vaseline, lubricants, wax, soap, cosmetics); NCERT calls it "liquid gold" for its scarcity and many uses. It occurs in tertiary sedimentary rocks. Systematic exploration began after the Oil and Natural Gas Commission was set up in 1956; until then Digboi in Assam was the only producing region. The main fields: Digboi, Naharkatiya and Moran (Assam); Ankaleshwar, Kalol, Mehsana, Nawagam, Kosamba and Lunej (Gujarat); Mumbai High, 160 km off Mumbai, discovered in 1973 with production from 1976; and finds in the Krishna-Godavari and Kaveri basins. Crude must be refined: refineries are field-based (Digboi) or market-based (Barauni).

Natural gas is found with petroleum and released when crude is brought up. It is a domestic and industrial fuel, a fuel for power, and a raw material for chemicals, petrochemicals and fertilisers; the 2026-27 text adds that with city gas distribution networks it is becoming a transport fuel (CNG) and a cooking fuel (PNG). The major reserves are in Mumbai High and allied west-coast fields, supplemented by the Cambay basin, with new finds in the Krishna-Godavari basin. India imports most of its crude: the Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics shows Russia as the largest source in 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25 (35.8% by quantity in 2024-25).

Nuclear Energy

The key nuclear minerals are uranium and thorium. Uranium occurs in Dharwar rocks, along the Singhbhum copper belt, in Udaipur, Alwar and Jhunjhunu (Rajasthan), Durg (Chhattisgarh), Bhandara (Maharashtra) and Kullu (Himachal Pradesh). Thorium comes mainly from monazite and ilmenite in the beach sands of Kerala and Tamil Nadu; the world's richest monazite deposits, NCERT says, occur in Palakkad and Kollam (Kerala), near Visakhapatnam and in the Mahanadi delta. The Atomic Energy Commission was set up in 1948, but progress came after the Atomic Energy Institute at Trombay (1954), renamed the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in 1967. NCERT's nuclear power projects: Tarapur (Maharashtra), Rawatbhata near Kota (Rajasthan), Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu), Narora (Uttar Pradesh), Kaiga (Karnataka) and Kakrapar (Gujarat).

Non-Conventional Energy

Fossil fuels and nuclear minerals are exhaustible; solar, wind, hydro, geothermal and biomass are renewable, more equitably distributed and environment-friendly, and become cheaper once the initial cost is met.

• Solar: sunlight converted in photovoltaic cells, or used through solar thermal technology, which NCERT says is cost-competitive, clean and easy to build; it is used in heaters, crop dryers and cookers. Western India, Gujarat and Rajasthan, has the greatest potential.
• Wind: pollution-free and inexhaustible; turbines convert the kinetic energy of permanent winds, monsoons and local land and sea breezes. Favourable conditions exist in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
• Tidal and wave: large tidal waves occur along the west coast, but the potential "has not yet been utilised".
• Geothermal: heat from magma and hot water from geysers; India has commissioned a geothermal plant at Manikaran in Himachal Pradesh. (NCERT notes the first successful use of underground heat, at Boise, Idaho, in 1890.)
• Bio-energy: from agricultural residues and municipal and industrial wastes, as electricity, heat or cooking gas; it processes waste, helps rural economies, reduces pollution and pressure on fuel wood. NCERT's example: the municipal-waste energy project at Okhla, Delhi.

Conservation of Mineral Resources

Sustainable development means integrating economic growth with environmental care; traditional resource use creates huge waste. NCERT's measures: develop inexhaustible alternatives (solar, wind, wave, geothermal) to replace exhaustible ones; recycle scrap metal, especially copper, lead and zinc, of which India's reserves are meagre; use substitutes for scarce metals; and reduce exports of strategic and scarce minerals so that reserves last longer.

PART 3 — UPSC Integration

Frames that score. For a distribution question, give NCERT's belt, the State and two districts or mines, and the rock type. For energy security, combine NCERT's resource picture (80% non-coking coal, oil only in a few basins) with current dependence (most crude and about 85% of coking coal imported) and the non-fossil build-out (over half of capacity since June 2025). For nuclear power, explain the three stages and the thorium logic.

Exam Strategy

For Prelims: the Mangaluru-Kanpur line; 97% of coal in four valleys; Jharia largest coalfield, then Raniganj; tertiary coal sites in the north-east; Digboi as field-based and Barauni as market-based refinery; Mumbai High (160 km, 1973, 1976); ONGC 1956; AEC 1948, Trombay 1954, BARC 1967; mica belts (Hazaribagh 150 km, Jaipur-Bhilwara 320 km, Nellore best); bauxite in laterite (Kalahandi, Lohardaga patlands, Amarkantak); Manikaran (geothermal), Okhla (bio-energy).

For Mains: distribution plus a reason (geology), then the current scale and the policy question (security, transition, conservation).

Avoid: confusing installed capacity with generation; stating NCERT's "largest reserves in Asia" for iron ore without saying it depends on the measure; and treating coal as mostly coking grade.

Practice Questions

Practice (UPSC-pattern, not past papers). Questions 1 to 3 are NCERT's own exercise MCQs.

Prelims:

1. In which one of the following States are the major oil fields located?
   (a) Assam
   (b) Bihar
   (c) Rajasthan
   (d) Tamil Nadu

2. At which one of the following places was the first atomic power station started?
   (a) Kalpakkam
   (b) Narora
   (c) Rana Pratap Sagar
   (d) Tarapur

3. Which one of the following is a non-renewable source of energy?
   (a) Hydel
   (b) Solar
   (c) Thermal
   (d) Wind power

4. Consider the following pairs of a mineral and an area of its occurrence (NCERT):
   

   1. Mica : Nellore
      
   2. Bauxite : Lohardaga patlands
      
   3. Copper : Jhunjhunu
      How many of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
      (a) Only one
      (b) Only two
      (c) All three
      (d) None

5. Digboi and Barauni refineries are examples, respectively, of:
   (a) field-based and market-based refineries
   (b) market-based and field-based refineries
   (c) port-based and inland refineries
   (d) public and private refineries

6. Which one of the following coalfields is NOT in the Damodar valley?
   (a) Jharia
   (b) Raniganj
   (c) Bokaro
   (d) Singrauli

Answer note: Q6, NCERT lists Raniganj, Jharia, Bokaro, Giridih and Karanpura as the Damodar valley fields; Singrauli lies in Madhya Pradesh, partly in Uttar Pradesh.

Mains:

1. Write a detailed note on the petroleum resources of India and India's dependence on imports. (250 words)
2. Despite being part of Gondwanaland, India's mining sector contributes a small share of GDP. Discuss with reference to the distribution of its minerals. (150 words)
3. Why does India's nuclear programme depend on fast breeder reactors? (150 words)

📦 Revision Capsule

Sources

• NCERT, India: People and Economy (Class XII), ch. 7 "Mineral and Energy Resources" (2021-22 print) and ch. 5 (Reprint 2026-27): 2021 book archive, Wayback copy; 2026-27 book archive.
• US Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 (iron ore, bauxite and alumina, manganese, mica, thorium): usgs.gov.
• Energy Institute, Statistical Review of World Energy 2026 (coal production, electricity generation by fuel, solar and wind capacity): energyinst.org.
• Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Renewable Energy Statistics 2025-26, Table 8.2 (as on 31 March 2026): PDF; PIB (MNRE), non-fossil sources half of installed capacity, 14 July 2025: pib.gov.in.
• Department of Atomic Energy, "Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor at Kalpakkam attains First Criticality", April 2026: dae.gov.in; NPCIL, reactors in operation: npcil.nic.in.
• Coal India Ltd, investor presentation, 27 April 2026: NSE filing PDF; Ministry of Coal, production and supplies: coal.nic.in; PIB, "India's Steel Sector Advances Towards Self-Reliance", 5 May 2026: pib.gov.in.
• DGCI&S, "Insights into Import of Crude Oil and International Crude Oil Prices", October 2025: PDF.
• Mines and Minerals (Contribution to District Mineral Foundation) Rules, 2015, as quoted in Federation of Indian Mineral Industries v. Union of India, Supreme Court, 13 October 2017: indiankanoon.org.