Coal reserves distribution
Topic: Energy Resources of India: Conventional and Non-conventional · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
India's coal is unevenly spread. Over 97 per cent of reserves lie in the Damodar, Sone, Mahanadi and Godavari river valleys, and Class 10 NCERT adds the Wardha valley. This coal is mostly old Gondwana coal on the north-eastern Peninsular plateau. Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh together hold about 70 per cent of reserves (verify current). A small amount of younger Tertiary coal occurs in the North-East. Because coal is bulky and loses weight as ash when burnt, steel mills and thermal plants are built near these fields.
Example
The Damodar valley in Jharkhand and West Bengal has Jharia, the largest coalfield, and Raniganj, the oldest. Talcher in the Mahanadi valley (Odisha) and Korba (Chhattisgarh) are other major fields.
Don't confuse with
- Tertiary coal areas: Meghalaya, upper Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Kalakot (Jammu and Kashmir) have coal, but only a small share of reserves. It is younger and high in sulphur.
Related concepts
- Jharia coalfield
- Raniganj coalfield
- Singrauli coalfield
- Hasdeo Arand coalfield
- Coal-bed methane
- Coal gasification