Coal Industry in India
 Rajesh Nath, Managing Director, VDMA India |
 Ajmal Fawad, Business Analyst, VDMA India |
Geology and Reserves of Indian coal
Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel resource in the country. India, currently, stands fifth in terms of total World Coal Resources, whereas it is third from the point of view of identified reserves.The coal occurrences in India are mainly distributed along the present day river valleys i.e. Damodar Valley, Sone-Mahanadi Valley, Pench-Kanhan Valley, Wardha-Godavari Valley etc. There are 69 major coalfields located in the peninsular India besides, 17 located in the north-eastern region. The bulk of the coal reserves are confined to the south-eastern quadrant of the country in West Bengal, Jharkand, Orissa, Chattisgarh & Madhya Pradesh.
The coal reserves of India have been estimated by the Geological Survey of India at 303 billion tonnes–up to the depth of 1200m, as on 31.04.2014.
Out of 303 billion tonnes (Bt) of coal reserves — "Prime" coking coal are 5.3 Bt, Medium & Semi-coking coals are 27.0 Bt & 1.71 Bt and Non-coking coals 267.5 Bt. Most of these resources occur in Gondwanas and the balance in the Tertiary formations.
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NBM&CW June 2016
