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UPPCS Indian Geography Gap Sheet: Coalfields of India.
UPPCS has asked 24 of these. 3 have not been asked yet. Lock the first list, then read the second: it holds what UPPCS has not used yet.
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.
✅ Already asked (24)
Jharkhand (Damodar valley)
- Jharia · Dhanbad; India's main coking coal field
- Bokaro · Damodar valley
- Karanpura · North and South Karanpura, Damodar valley
- Giridih · Known for high-quality coking coal
- Rajmahal · Rajmahal hills, Santhal Pargana
- Auranga and Daltonganj · North Koel valley, Palamu
West Bengal
- Raniganj · The oldest coalfield; mining began here in 1774
Odisha
- Talcher · Brahmani valley; one of the largest reserves
Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh
- Korba · Chhattisgarh; also a big thermal power centre
- Hasdeo-Arand · Chhattisgarh; large reserve under dense forest
- Mand-Raigarh · Chhattisgarh
- Chirimiri and Bishrampur · Chhattisgarh
- Singrauli · Son valley, Madhya Pradesh and Sonbhadra (Uttar Pradesh); feeds many power plants
- Sohagpur · Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh
- Pench-Kanhan · Chhindwara, Madhya Pradesh
- Umaria · Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra and Telangana
- Kamptee · Near Nagpur, Maharashtra
- Wardha Valley (Chanda, Ballarpur) · Chandrapur, Maharashtra
- Singareni · Godavari valley, Telangana
Tertiary coal (North-East)
- Makum · Upper Assam; Tertiary coal
- Namchik-Namphuk · Arunachal Pradesh
- Garo and Khasi hills · Meghalaya; small mines
Lignite
- Neyveli · Tamil Nadu; India's main lignite field
- Palana and Barmer · Rajasthan
❌ Not asked yet (3)
Items marked 'asked in other exams' have come in UPSC or other state exams, not yet in UPPCS.
🔒 3 items not asked yet
Jharkhand (Damodar valley): 1 · Odisha: 1 · Lignite: 1
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⚠️ 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' and 'not asked' are checked against every UPPCS question on this site. 'Not asked yet' does not mean it will surely come.