Major Coal Producing States in India

Major Coal Producing States in India:-

Coal is an important source of power in India. It is unevenly distributed in India. Majority of the coal producing states are found in the eastern part of India comprising part of Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal.

Jharkhand is the largest coal producing state in the coun­try followed by Orissa, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana (previous part of Andhra Pradesh) and Maharashtra.

1. Jharkhand:-

 38% of the total reserves of India are found in this state. Darla is the most important and most productive coal field in India. The field accounts for 100% of the country’s prime coking coal production. Other significant coal producing regions of this state are Bokaro, North Karanpura, South Karanpura, Giridih, Ramgarh, Daltonganj and Rajmahal.

2. Orissa (Odisha): -

Orissa account for around 13.4% of the country’s total production. Talcher and Ranapur Himgir are the two important coal fields. Talcher accounts for nearly 3/4th of the total coal reserve of the state.

3. Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh:-

 Major coal fields are Korba, Umaria, Singrauli, Chirmiri and Sohagpur. Other coal fields include Pench Kanhan, Mohpani, Sonhat, Jhilimili, Bisrampur, Raigarh and Tatapani – Ramkola.

4. Andhra Pradesh: -

The major coal producing districts are Adilabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, Khammam, East Godavari and West Godavari. Major coal fields are Tandur, Singareni, Kothagudem and Ramagundam.

5. Maharashtra:-

 The major coal fields are found in Nagpur-Wardha region. The important mining areas are – Wardha, Ballarpur, Chanda and Kampati.

6. West Bengal:-

 Raniganj is the largest coal field of West Bengal and the second biggest in India in terms of total reserve. The coal fields of Asansol are also famous. Recently a large coal field has been discovered in Mejia in the Bankura district.

Location of Coal Mines in India

Tertiary coalfields:-

Assam accounts for 63% of the total tertiary coal reserves. Major coal fields in Assam are the Makum, Nazira, Mikir Hills and Dilli-Jeypore. Of these, the Makum is the most developed field. Among the other fields West Darrangiri, Langrin and Bapung in Meghalaya, Namchik in Arunachal Pradesh and Borjan in Nagaland are important.

Lignite coalfields:-

Lignite coal is mainly produced in two states – Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. Small lignite coal fields are also found in Rajasthan and Jammu and Kashmir. Neyveli is the lignite field in Tamil Nadu which is located in South Arcol district. Neyveli is the largest lignite coal mine of India. This field supplies fuel for thermal power generation in Tamil Nadu.