Question

Name the four most important coal producing states of India.

Answer 1

Hint:
- In eastern and south-central India, coal deposits are mainly found.
- Located south of Dhanbad, the Jharia coalfield is the oldest and wealthiest coalfield in India, with the strongest bituminous coal in its reserves.
- The Dhenkanal, Sambalpur and Sundargarh districts have next most coal reserves.

Complete solution:

India's top four coal producing states are :

- Jharkhand : Located in north-east India, the state of Jharkhand tops the list of coal reserves and production in India, at more than 26 percent. “Haria, Bokaro, Auranga, Giridih, Dhanbad, Ramgarh, Karanpur and Hutar” are the state's major coal-mining centres. In a narrow belt that runs east to west, most of these coalfields are situated.
It is estimated that the total reserves of coal in Jharkhand are 83.15 billion tonnes.

- Odisha : The state of Odisha is second on the list for coal reserves. Situated on India's east coast, it has more than 24 percent of the total reserves of the country and accounts for around 15 percent of India's total output of coal.Odisha's total coal reserves amount to about 79.30 billion tonnes.

- Chhattisgarh : Chhattisgarh, the central Indian state, holds about 17 percent of the coal deposits in the country and is the third largest in terms of coal reserves.Chirmiri, Johilla and Jhimli are important coalfields in Chhattisgarh.The coal reserves of the state amount to more than 57 billion tonnes in total.

- West bengal : The eastern state of West Bengal, home to about 11 percent of India's total coal reserves, comes fourth in the list. The Raniganj coalfield, which covers more than 185km2 in the Bardhman and Birbhum districts, is West Bengal's most important reserve and mining area. The deposits here contain 50-65% carbon, making the quality of coal some of the best in the nation. Darjeeling, Bardhman, Jalpaiguri, Bankura and Purulia are the districts that cover West Bengal's coal deposits. Total coal reserves total up to 31,67 billion tonnes in West Bengal.

Note:
- More than 70% of the electricity generation in the country is based on coal, with 70% of the fuel coming from Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh states.
- Gondwana coal, the oldest form of fossil fuel, produced about 250 million years ago, is about 98 percent of India's fuel.
- India is ranked fifth among nations with the largest coal reserves in the world.