India's most important mineral resources comprises Coal (third leading reserves in the world), Iron ore, Bauxite, Manganese, Natural gas, Mica, Diamonds, Titanium ore, Limestone, Chromite, Petroleum and Thorium (world's leading).
India also exports granite, iron ore, bauxite, titanium, manganese and imports graphite, mercury, cobalt and so on.
India is the third largest producer of coal & lignite, second largest producer of barites, fourth largest producer of iron ore, 5th leading producer of bauxite and crude steel, seventh largest producer of manganese ore and 8th leading producer of aluminium.
Jharkhand has the biggest reserves in the country and about 25 percent of entire reserves of iron ore in India.
India's richest haematite deposits are located in Barbil Koira valley in Odisha.
The Bailadila mine is the largest mechanized mine in Asia from where iron ore is exported to Japan through Vishakhapatnam.
Japan is the leading purchaser of Indian iron ore.
The country has the second leading global manganese ore reserves after Zimbabwe.
The key reserves are located in Karnataka, and are followed by Orissa, MP, Maharashtra and Goa.
Raniganj (West Bengal), Jharia (Bihar), Singrauli (Madhya Pradesh) and Korba (Chhattisgarh) are the major coal fields in India.
Marble is found largely in Rajasthan.
State with the largest mineral deposit is Jharkhand.
Jharkhand is the state with highest mineral output in India.
Chottanagpur plateau is the wealthy mineral belt of the country.
India's contribution to gold production across the world is less than one percent (0.75%).
Karnataka is the biggest maker of gold which is followed by Andhra Pradesh.
There are mainly three gold fields in India: Kolar gold field in Karnataka, Hatti Gold Field in Karnataka, Ramagiri Gold Field in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh.
Silver is mostly found from Zawar mines of Udaipur in Rajasthan.
Odisha has the largest deposits of Nickel.
Bituminous coal is mostly located in Jharkhand and Bihar. Ranigunj in West Bengal is also famous for Bituminous coal. Neyveli in Tamil Nadu is famous for Lignite coals.
India is the third leading coal producer after China and USA in the world.
Lignite also known as brown coal, is a lower grade coal and contains about 40 to 55% carbon.
It is found in Rajasthan, Neyveli of Tamil Nadu, Assam and Jammu and Kashmir.
Jharia in Jharkhand has been recognised as the store house of the best metallurgical coal in the country.
Coal India Ltd makes large quantity of coal in the country followed by Singareni Collieries Company Ltd.
Assam is the oldest oil producing state in the country. Digboi located in Assam is also the oldest oil well of country.
The first successful oil well was dunk at Digboi in 1889.
Bombay High of Mumbai is the offshore oil field found in the seashore of Maharashtra.
Oil Refineries with the largest refining capacity are Reliance Petroleum Ltd, Jamnagar and Indian Oil Corp Ltd, Koyali.
Natural gas fields are found at Ankleshwar and Cambay of Gujarat, Bombay high of Maharashtra and Assam.
The Panna diamond belt located in the cities of Panna, Chatarpur and Satna of MP and Banda in UP is the only diamond making hub in India.
Bauxite deposits are found in Bihar, Kashmir, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Bauxite in india is mainly exported to foreign countries like China, Korea, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia.
With the recent demand in world for chromite, the country has increased its manufacture and became the third leading producer of chromite in the world.
Recent discoveries of Krishna- Godavari off-shore basin and Rava field will have big contribution in the field of gas production in India.
Jharkhand is the leading producer of mica. Bihar, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh also produce mica.
Japan with 19 percent and USA with 17 percent are the foremost purchaser of indian mica.
Limestone having 10 percent magnesium is known as dolomite, if the percentage of magnesium increased to 45 percent, then it becomes true dolomite.
Iron and Steel industry is the chief consumer of dolomite (an ore of calcium).
About 90% dolomite reserves are concentrated in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Gujarat, Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra.
Rajasthan is the largest producer of Asbestos followed by Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.
Gypsum is mainly used in making ammonia sulphate fertilizer and in cement industry. Ra-jasthan is the main producer followed by Jammu and Kashmir.
Major deposit of magnesite (ore of magnesium) are found in Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.
Jharkhand is the largest producer of Kyanite (ore of potassium) in India followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka.
In Sillimanite (silicate of aluminium) production, Odisha contributes 55.87% of the total production, followed by Kerala and Maharashtra.
Rock salt is manufactured in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh.
Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan manufactures 10 percent of annual production of salt. Gujarat coast manufactures nearly half of salt in india.
Uranium deposits are found in Jaduguda mines of Singhbhum and Hazaribagh districts of Jharkhand.
Thorium, a likely future substitute for uranium as a fission material in atomic reactors, occurs in considerable quantities as Thorium dioxide, in the beach sands of Kerala coast.
Monazite mines of commercial worth are found in between cape comorin and Kollam in Kerala.
Thorium is also derived from monazite. Zirconium is also found in Kerala coast.
Uranium compounds occurs in Singhbhum – copper belt of Jharkhand, Aravalli’s and central Himalaya.
