Mineral Resources
India's Mineral Sector :-
India is endowed with significant mineral resources. India produces 89 minerals out of which 4 are fuel minerals, 11 metallic, 52 non-metallic and 22 minor minerals. The total value of mineral production (excluding atomic minerals was Rs. 404768 million in 1998-99. The entire metallic production is accounted for by iron-ore, copper-ore, chromite and/or zinc concentrates, gold, manganese ore, bauxite, lead concentrates, and silver. Amongst the non-metallic minerals, 92 percent of the aggregate value is shared by limestone, magnesite, dolomite, barytes, kaolin, gypsum, apatite & phosphorite, steatite and fluorite.
India has a large number of economically useful minerals and they constitute one quarter of the world's known mineral resources. About two-thirds of its iron deposits lies in a belt along Orissa and Bihar border. Other haemaite deposits are found in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharastra and Goa. Magnetite iron-ore is found in Tamilnadu, Bihar and Himachal.
India has the world's largest deposits of coal. Bituminous coal is found in Jharia and Bokaro in Bihar and Ranigunj in West Bengal. Lignite coals are found in Neyveli in Tamilnadu.
Next to Russia, India has the largest supply of Manganese. The manganese mining areas are Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra and Bihar-Orissa area. Chromite deposits are found in Bihar, Cuttack district in Orissa, Krishna distri-cl in Andhra and Mysore and Hassan in Kamataka. Banxite deposits are found in western Bihar, southwest Kashmir, Central Tamilnadu, and parts of Kerala, U.P, Maharastra and Karnataka.
India also produces third quarters of the world's mica. Belts of high quality mica are, Bihar, Andhra and Rajasthan. Gypsum reserves are· in Tamilnadu and Rajasthan. Nickel ore is found in Cuttack in Bihar and Mayurbanj in Orissa. Ileminite reserves are in Kerala and along the east and the west coastal beaches.
Silimanite reserves are in Sonapahar of Meghalaya and in Pipra in M.P. Copper ore bearing areas are Agnigundala in Andhra, Singhbum in Bihar, Khetri and Dartiba in Rajasthan and parts of Sikkhim and Kamataka.
The Ramagiri field in Andhra, Kolar and Hutti in Karnataka are the important gold mines.
The Panna diamond belt is the only diamond producing area in the country, which covers the districts of Panna, Chatarpur and Satna in Madya Pradesh, as well as some parts of Banda in Uttar Pradesh.
Petroleum deposits are found in Assam and Gujarat. Fresh reserves were located off Bombay. The potential oil bearing areas are, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, west Bengal, Punjab, Himachal, Kutch and the Andamans.
India's contribution to the world's mineral production : India is the world's largest producer of mica blocks and mica splittings. With the recent spurt in world demand for chromite, India has stepped up its production to reach the third rank among the chromite producers of the world. Besides, India ranks 3rd in production of coal & lignite and barytes, 4th in iron ore, 6th in bauxite and manganese ore, 10 in aluminium and 11th in crude steel in the World.