Home › PYQs › Indian Geography › Repeat & Gap Sheets › Coalfields of India

Coalfields of India: asked and not asked.

UPSC has asked 16 of these 27. 11 came more than once. 11 have not come yet. Lock the repeated ones first, then read the rest.

First, the concept

About 98 percent of India's coal is Gondwana coal, about 250 million years old. It lies in river valleys of the peninsula: Damodar, Son, Mahanadi, Godavari and Wardha.

Tertiary coal is younger and has more sulphur. It is found in the North-East (Assam, Meghalaya, Arunachal) and in Jammu.

By carbon, best to poorest: anthracite, bituminous, lignite, peat. Lignite (brown coal) comes mainly from Neyveli in Tamil Nadu.

Jharkhand has the largest reserves. Odisha and Chhattisgarh lead in production in recent years.

🔁 Asked again and again (11)

Tap a year to open that solved question.

Jharkhand (Damodar valley)

  • Jharia · Dhanbad; India's main coking coal field 5 times:19901989198419841982
  • Bokaro · Damodar valley 3 times:200319871984
  • Karanpura · North and South Karanpura, Damodar valley 2 times:19971989
  • Giridih · Known for high-quality coking coal 2 times:20041990

West Bengal

  • Raniganj · The oldest coalfield; mining began here in 1774 3 times:199019841984

Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh

Maharashtra and Telangana

  • Wardha Valley (Chanda, Ballarpur) · Chandrapur, Maharashtra 3 times:199819921984
  • Singareni · Godavari valley, Telangana 2 times:19901984

Tertiary coal (North-East)

  • Garo and Khasi hills · Meghalaya; small mines 3 times:202620131987
  • Namchik-Namphuk · Arunachal Pradesh 2 times:20082008

Lignite

  • Neyveli · Tamil Nadu; India's main lignite field 3 times:199319881984

✅ Asked once (5)

Jharkhand (Damodar valley)

  • Auranga and Daltonganj · North Koel valley, Palamu 1993
  • Ramgarh · Damodar valley 2026

Odisha

  • Talcher · Brahmani valley; one of the largest reserves 1990

Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh

  • Hasdeo-Arand · Chhattisgarh; large reserve under dense forest
  • Mand-Raigarh · Chhattisgarh 1990

❌ Not asked by UPSC yet (11)

Items marked 'asked in UPPCS' have already come in the UP state exam, so examiners do use them.

Jharkhand (Damodar valley)

  • Rajmahal · Rajmahal hills, Santhal Pargana asked in UPPCS

Odisha

  • Ib Valley · Jharsuguda–Sundargarh, Mahanadi basin

Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh

  • Chirimiri and Bishrampur · Chhattisgarh asked in UPPCS
  • Singrauli · Son valley, Madhya Pradesh and Sonbhadra (Uttar Pradesh); feeds many power plants asked in UPPCS
  • Sohagpur · Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh asked in UPPCS
  • Pench-Kanhan · Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh asked in UPPCS
  • Umaria · Madhya Pradesh asked in UPPCS

Maharashtra and Telangana

  • Kamptee · Near Nagpur, Maharashtra asked in UPPCS

Tertiary coal (North-East)

  • Makum · Upper Assam; Tertiary coal asked in UPPCS

Lignite

  • Palana and Barmer · Rajasthan asked in UPPCS
  • Panandhro (Kutch) · Gujarat

⚠️ Raniganj is in West Bengal and Jharia in Jharkhand: do not swap them. Neyveli gives lignite, not Gondwana coal. Singrauli lies in both Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

'Asked' is checked against the solved UPSC questions on this site. 'Not asked yet' does not mean it will surely come.

All Indian Geography sheets ›