Table of Contents
1Distribution of Coal in India
2Gondwana Coal
3Distribution of Gondwana Coal in India
3.1Gondwana Coalfields in Chhattisgarh
3.2Gondwana Coalfields in Jharkhand
3.3Gondwana Coalfields in Odisha
3.4Gondwana Coalfields in Madhya Pradesh
3.5Gondwana Coalfields in Andhra Pradesh
3.6Gondwana Coalfields in Maharashtra
3.7Gondwana Coalfields in West Bengal
3.8Gondwana Coalfields in Uttar Pradesh
4Tertiary Coal
4.1Tertiary Coalfields in Assam
4.2Tertiary Coalfields in Arunachal Pradesh
4.3Tertiary Coalfields in Meghalaya
4.4Tertiary Coalfields in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh
5Tertiary Coal Lignite
5.1Lignite in Tamil Nadu
5.2Lignite in Gujarat and Rajasthan
6Tertiary Coal Peat
7Problems of Coal Mining in India
7.1Measures to be taken
8Coking Coal vs. NonCoking Coal
9Coal Reserves in India by State
10Coal Production in India by State
10.1Coking Coal Production by State
10.2Non Coking Coal Production By State
10.3Total Coal Production By State
11Indias Coal Imports and Exports
12Major Coalfields in India
Distribution of Coal in India Gondwana Coal: Gondwana Coalfields.
Tertiary Coal: Tertiary Coalfields, Lignite, Peat. Coking Coal vs. NonCoking
Coal, Coal Reserves, Coal Production, Imports.
DistributionofCoalinIndia
Gondwanacoalfields[250millionyearsold]
Tertiarycoalfields[1560millionyearsold]
GondwanaCoal
Gondwana coal makes up to98percentofthetotalreservesand99
percentoftheproductionofcoalinIndia.Satpuras, denudation
[weathering + erosion] has exposed coal bearing Gondwana strata.
The carbon content in Gondwana coal[250millionyearsold]is less
compared to the Carboniferous coal[350millionyearsold][Almost
AbsentinIndia]because of its much younger age.
Gondwana coal forms Indias metallurgical grade as well as superior
quality coal.
TheDamudaseries(i.e.LowerGondwana)possesses the best
worked coalfields accounting for 80 per cent of the total coal
production in India. 80 out of 113 Indian coalfields are located in the
rock systems of theDamudaseries[lower Gondwana Age].
Coking as well as noncoking and bituminous as well as sub
bituminous coal are obtained from Gondwana coal fields.
Anthraciteis generally not found in the Gondwana coal fields.
The volatile compounds and ash (usually 13 30 per cent) and doesnt
allow Carbon percentage to rise above55to60percent.[It requires
few million years more if the quality has to get better. Remember
Gondwana coal is 100 million years younger than Carboniferous coal].
Gondwana coal is free from moisture, but it
containsSulphurandPhosphorous.
These basins occur in the valleys of certain rivers viz., the Damodar
(JharkhandWest Bengal) the Mahanadi (ChhattisgarhOdisha) the
Son (Madhya Pradesh Jharkhand) the Godavari and the Wardha
(MaharashtraAndhra Pradesh) the Indravati, the Narmada, the Koel,
the Panch, the Kanhan and many more.
DistributionofGondwanaCoalinIndia
First coal mine was opened in 1774 atRaniganjinWestBengal.
Coal industry was nationalized in 197374. [The present government
made some serious changes during the last year [2015] by allowing
private sector to play a bigger role in coal production].
India is now thethirdlargestcoalproducerin the world afterChina
andtheUSA.
Coal industry provides employment to nearly seven lakh persons.
Gondwana Coalfields == exclusively found in the Peninsular plateau of
India.
GondwanaCoalfieldsinChhattisgarh
Coalfield Extent
Korba coalfield Korba district.
Birampur coalfield
HasdoArand
coalfield
Surguja district.
Chirmiri coalfield
Lakhanpur coalfield
Jhilmili coalfield Shandol district & Koriya
district
Johilla coalfield Johilla valley
Sonhat coalfield Surguja district
TatapaniRamkota
Surguja district
coalfields
GondwanaCoalfieldsinJharkhand
1st in reserves [28%].
2nd in production [20%].
Most of the coal fields are located in a narrow belt running in east
west direction.
Major coalfields are present in Dumka (Santhal Parganas),
Hazaribagh, Dhanbad and Palamu.
Jharia,Bokaro,GirdihandKaranpuraare the major coal fields
One of theoldest
andtherichest
coalfieldsof
Jharia
India store house
coalfield
of the
Danbad
bestmetallurgical
district
coal[cokingcoal]
inferior quality
Jayanti
and has high ash
coalfields
content
Bokaro Hazaribagh
coalfield district
It is a long but
West Bokaro
narrow strip in the
[900 m deep]
catchment area of
theBokaroriver.
East Bokaro
[600 m deep]
Girdih Gives out of
(Karharbari) thefinestcoking
coalfield coalin India for
metallurgical
purposes.
Karanpura
and Ramgarh
coalfields
Auranga
coalfield
inferior quality
Hutar Palamu used in cement
coalfield district furnaces and brick
kilns
Deltenganj
coalfield
Devgarh Dumka
inferior quality
coalfields district
Rajmahal Rajmahal
inferior quality
coalfield hills
CoalfieldlocationscanbeaskedinPrelims.
GondwanaCoalfieldsinOdisha
Talcher Talcher town Rankssecondin
field to Rairkhol reserves(24,374
in million tonnes)
Dhenkanal afterRaniganj
and
Coal from this field
Sambalpur
is most suitable for
districts
steam and gas
production.
Most of the coal is
utilised inthermal
powerand
fertilizerplantsat
Talcher.
Coal occurs here in
Rampur Sambalpur middle and lower
Himgir and Barakar seams.
coalfields Sundargarh
inferior quality
Sambalpur
Ib river and Much of the coal is
coalfield Jharsuguda of inferior quality.
district
GondwanaCoalfieldsinMadhyaPradesh
largest coalfield of
Madhya Pradesh
Jhingurda,
Panipahari,
Khadia, Purewa
and Turra are
important coal
Singrauli Sidhi and seams
(Waidhian) Shandol
Jhingurda with a
coalfield districts
total thickness of
131 m is the
richest coal seam
of the country.
thermal power
plants at Singrauli
and Obra
Ghoravari seam in
Pench Kanhan field is 4.6
Chhindwara
Kanhan m thick and
district
Tawa contains coking
coal
Sohagpur Shandol
coalfield district
inferior quality
Umaria Umaria with high
coalfield district percentage of
moisture and ash.
GondwanaCoalfieldsinAndhraPradesh
6th in reserves [7.07 %].
5th in production [9.69 %].
Most of the coal reserves are in theGodavarivalley.
Adilabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, Khammam, East Godavari, and West
Godavari.
The actual workable collieries are situated atSingareniand
Kothagudam.
Almost the entire coal is ofnoncokingvariety.
These are the southern most coalfields of India and asourceofcoal
supplytomostofsouthIndia.
GondwanaCoalfieldsinMaharashtra
3 per cent reserves.
7 per cent of the production.
GondwanaCoalfieldsinWestBengal
4 % of Indias coal.
11 % of the coal reserves.
DarjeelingandJalpaiguriare the chief producing districts.
RANIGANJis the largest coalfield of West Bengal.
Raniganj == Barddhaman, Bankura and Purulia districts Small part
of this field is in Jharkhand state.
The coal here is noncoking steam coal.
Dalingkot coalfield == Darjeeling district.
GondwanaCoalfieldsinUttarPradesh
Do not possess coal reserves.
A small portion of the Singrauli field of Madhya Pradesh falls within
Mirzapur district.
A high grade coal seam, about 1 to 1.5 m thick occurs near Kotah.
TertiaryCoal
Tertiary coal 15 to 60 million years old. Carbon content is very low.
Mainly confined to the extraPeninsula [Jammu and Kashmir,
Himachal Pradesh, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh etc.]
Coal generally haslowcarbonandhighpercentageof
moistureandSulphur.[It takes few hundred million years for the
carbon content to improve].
Important areas of Tertiary coal include parts of Assam, Meghalaya,
Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Himalayan foothills of Darjeeling in
West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Kerala,
Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Pondicherry also bear tertiary
coal reserves [exceptions].
TertiaryCoalfieldsinAssam
Makum, Nazira, Mikir Hills, DilliJeypore and Lakhuni.
Makumcoalfieldin Sibsagar district is the most developed field.
Assam coals contain verylowashandhighcokingqualitiesbut
thesulphurcontentishigh, as a result of which this coal is not
suitable for metallurgical purposes.
But these coals are best suited forhydrogenationprocessand are
used formakingliquidfuels.
TertiaryCoalfieldsinArunachalPradesh
Upper Assam Coal belt extends eastwards as NamchickNamrup
coalfield.
High in volatiles and in sulphur.
TertiaryCoalfieldsinMeghalaya
Garo, Khasi and Jaintia hills.
Darrangiri field == Garo hills.
Siju, Cherrapunji, Liotryngew, Maolong and Langrin coalfields ==
Khasi and Jaintia hills.
TertiaryCoalfieldsinJammuandKashmir,
HimachalPradesh
Kalakot and surrounding regions in Jammu, south of Pirpanjal.
Himachal Pradesh == Chamba district.
TertiaryCoalLignite
Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Rajasthan, West
Bengal and Puducherry.
Tamil Nadu excels all other states regarding reserves and production
of lignite.
LigniteinTamilNadu
90percentof the reserves.
57 per cent of the production.
NeyveliLignitefieldsof Cuddalore district.
These are the largest deposits of lignite in south east Asia.
Neyveli mines suffer from the artesian structure [mining goes deep and
deep].
Mining in Lignite coalfields is risky due toSPONTANEOUS
COMBUSTIONof lignite.
LigniteinGujaratandRajasthan
Kachchh district and Dharuch district poor quality.
Rajasthan == Palana in Bikaner district The 250 MW thermal plant
atBikanerwholly depends upon lignite as the basic fuel.
TertiaryCoalPeat
Confined to a few areas only.
Occurs inNilgirihills.
Kashmirvalley, peat occurs in the alluvium of the Jhelum.
In West Bengal peat beds are noted in Kolkata and its suburbs.
In the Ganga delta, there are layers of peat which are composed of
forest and rice plants.
ProblemsofCoalMininginIndia
The distribution of coal is uneven.
High ash content and low caloric value.
Large percentage of coal is taken out from underground mines. [Very
few open cast mines]
Heavy losses due to fires in the mines.
Pilferage at several stages also adds to losses bad transportation
infrastructure.
Serious problem of environmental pollution. High ash, moisture ==
more smoke.
Safety measures against environmental pollution are very costly. Clean
coal technology == Complex technology.
Misuse of good quality coal for burning into transport and industries.
Short life of metallurgical coal.
Selective mining leading to large scale wastage of raw coal
Unscientific method of extraction of coal.
Measurestobetaken
Coking coal should be used for metallurgical industry only.
Low grade coal should be washed and blended with superior quality
coal in requisite proportion and used in industries. [Clean Coal
Technology]
Selective mining should be discouraged and all possible coal from the
mines should be taken out.
New reserves should be discovered and new techniques should be
adopted.
Alternative energy sources should be encouraged.
CokingCoalvs.NonCokingCoal
ThermalCoalor
CokingCoalor
NonCokingCoal
MetallurgicalCoal
orSteamingcoal
High carbon content,
Sulphur content is
less moisture, less
high and hence
sulphur, less ash.
cannot be used in
Sulphuris very bad for iron and steel
iron and steel industry. industry.
Used to createcoke. Creating coke using
this coal is not
Coke is produced by
economical.
heating bituminous coal
without air to extremely Moreover traces of
high temperatures. sulphur will remain
even after coking.
Coking == flushing out
impurities and
improving the
concentration of carbon.
Coking coalis an
Thermalcoal is used
essential ingredient in
togeneratepower.
steel production.
Major producers: Major producers:
Australia, Canada, China, Australia,
United States. USA, Russia.
Major exporters: Major exporters:
Australia, Canada, Australia, South
United States. Africa.
China imports huge
amount of coking coal
from Australia.
India also imports
coking coal.
CoalReservesinIndiabyState
Reserves
%of
Nameofthe in
total
state billion
reserves
tonne
1.JHARKHAND 80.71 26.76
2.ODISHA 75.07 24.89
3.CHATTISHGARH 52.53 17.42
4. WEST BENGAL 31.31 10.38
5. MADHYA
25.67 8.51
PRADESH
6. ANDHRA
22.48 7.45
PRADESH
7. MAHARASTRA 10.98 3.64
8. OTHERS 2.81 0.95
CoalProductioninIndiabyState
All data from 20132014. For latest data you must follow newspapers
or Reports published by Ministry of Coal.
Remember top 3 positions in all data below.
CokingCoalProductionbyState
Jharkhand[More than 90% of Indias Coking coal comes from
Jharkhand]
West Bengal
Madhya Pradesh
NonCokingCoalProductionByState
Chhattisgarh
Odisha
MadhyaPradesh
Jharkhand
Andhra Pradesh
TotalCoalProductionByState
Chhattisgarh
Jharkhand
Odisha
Madhya Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
IndiasCoalImportsandExports
MajorCoalfieldsinIndia
MajorCoalfieldsinIndia
1.Singrauli
2.KaranpuraBokaro
3.Jharia
4.Raniganj
5.Ib&Talcher
6.Pench&Kanhan
7.SingareniGodavariVelley
8.Lignite:TN,GujratAndRajasthan
