PARLIAMENT QUESTION: MINERALS IN COASTAL BEACHES

• Beach Sand Minerals (BSM) are heavy-mineral placer deposits (ilmenite, rutile, leucoxene, zircon, monazite, garnet, sillimanite) concentrated in coastal/teri sands of peninsular India.
• Classified as "Atomic Minerals" under Part-B of the First Schedule of the MMDR Act, 1957 — strategic for India's three-stage nuclear programme (monazite → thorium).
• Relevant for UPSC across GS-III (energy security, critical minerals, mining policy) and GS-II (parliamentary oversight via Q&A).