Coal Resources of India

Coal in India has been the main source of power and is abundantly found in fossil fuels in the country. It is the most sustainable source of energy that satisfies the nation’s need for energy. It is primarily used for the generation of power that is supplied to meet the energy supply to the industry and also channelized to fulfill the domestic need for electricity. In order to meet the commercial need for energy, India is highly dependent on its coal reserves and mining every year. 

There are many forms and types of coal found in India, depending on the time along with the depth of their burial and the compression it underwent because of the atmospheric pressure built upon the top of the land. Coal is often referred to as black gold, and as India contributes about 67% of the total coal produced in the world, it is often called the land of black gold. The decaying plants and swamps result in the formation of peat that has low carbon content and heating capacity whereas high moisture contents.    

India has been mining coal since 1774. By the year 2018, it has become the second-biggest coal mining country in the world with gross production of 716 million metric tonnes. In the previous year (2017), India had gross mining of 315.14 billion metric tonnes of coal. In the initial month of 2017, the reserve of lignite coal in India was estimated to be about 44.70 billion metric tonnes. So as to meet the requirement of the steel plants in India, it had to import the coking coal as the demand for the coal was high, but the quality of the grade of coal found in India was low to meet the requirements of steel plants. 

The coal import by the country increased from 48.9 million metric tonnes in the year 2007-2008 to 191 million tonnes by the year 2016 -2017. But the coal export numbers in India have also taken a rise from 1.63 million metric tonnes in the year 2007-2008 to 2.44 million metric tonnes in the year 2013-14 but again declined to 1.77 million metric tonnes in the year 2017-18. 

Dhanbad is called the coal capital of India as it is the largest coal-producing state in the country. Coal India, which is a state-owned coal mining farm, has had a monopoly over coal mining since it was nationalized in the year 1973 till year 2018. The people of India have greatly criticized the coal-fired power plants for breaking the environmental laws. It was also observed that the phasing-out of coal has short-term benefits towards the environment and health, but the cost for it was exceeding to a greater extent. This article, thus, deals with the coal resources of India and the types of coal found in India.

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Types of Coal in India

Coal can be defined as a sedimentary rock that is brownish-black or black in appearance that has a high combustion property. It is because it has a large number of carbons and hydrocarbon molecules in it. As it is fossil energy that takes millions of years to form, that is why it is referred to as a non-renewable source of energy. The coal is the cont of the plant energy that was dead and got buried in the soil of a swampy area that had a high level of moisture content. Through hundreds of years, the rocks, soil and dirt covered the dead and decaying plants that in turn have created pressure and heat over the decaying matter that resulted in the formation of coal.

Coal has been ranked and classified into four main types, namely anthracite, bituminous, sub-bituminous, and lignite. The classification is based on the amount of carbon content in the coal and the amount of energy produced while burning the coal. The ranking of the coal was originally done by the amount of pressure and heat acted upon the dead and decayed plants over millions of years that resulted in the formation of that particular coal. The types of coal found in India are as follows:

1. Anthracite coal in India: Anthracite coal in India is considered to be the best quality coal in India and is thus ranked on the top of all other major varieties of coal. This coal contains about 86 to 97% of carbon content and thus is known for the highest heat energy value among all other types of coal found in the country. It is a very rarely found coal throughout the world. In India, it is only found in Jammu and Kashmir. In the United States, only 1% of the coal is mined in the year 2019. The mines of anthracite coals are only situated in northern Pennsylvania of the United States. Anthracite is mainly used in the metal industry all over the world.

2. Bituminous coal: It is considered the second-best coal in the world according to its ranking as it contains 45% to 86% of the carbon content. It is the most common coal that is widely used for commercial purposes. It is the most abundant coal that is mined in the United States that accounts for 48% of the total amount of different grades of coal that is mined in the United States in the year 2019. It is one of the main ingredients for the production of coking coal and is mostly used for the generation of electricity and is massively used in the iron and steel industry all over the world. In the United States, almost 19 states were involved in the mining of bituminous coal in the year 2019, but only five states together accounted for 75% of the mining of bituminous coal. Those states are West Virginia (27.5%), Pennsylvania (14.0%), Illinois (13.5%), Kentucky (10.6%) and Indiana (9.6%).

3. Sub-bituminous or peat: This kind of coal contains about 35% to 45% of carbon content, but in general it has less than 40% of carbon. It has a lower heating value as compared to bituminous. The coal in India has occurred in two main geological ages, namely, Gondava that accounts for the coal that is over 200 million years of age and in the tertiary deposits that accounts for about 55 million years of age of the coal. The Gondhava coal also referred to as metallurgical coal, is mostly found in the Damodar valley of West Bengal and Jharkhand state. The other important coal deposits of Gondava coal are Jharia, Rainganj and Bokharo. The valleys that have massive coal deposits are the Godavari, Mahanadi, Sons, and Warda valleys. The northeastern states like Meghalaya, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland are the major deposits of tertiary coal.

4. Lignite coal in India: Lignite has the lowest heat energy content of all the other types of coal as it contains only 25% to 35% of carbon. The lignite coal deposit is the youngest of all that has not been subjected to any pressure or heat from the upper surfaces where the remains of plants have been buried. As it has a high moisture content, thus it has a low heating capacity. The major lignite deposit is found in the Neyveli area of Tamil Nadu that is excavated to produce electricity for commercial purposes. In the year 2019, lignite will contribute about 8% of the total coal mining in the United States. Among the 8%, about 51% were excavated from Dakota, and the rest, 41% was mined from Texas. The remaining 9% was mined from Louisiana, Montana and Mississippi. 

Coal Reserves in India

The major coal reserves in India are as follows:

1. Damodar Valley Coalfield: It is considered one of the largest coalfields in India that stretches between West Bengal and Jharkhand. The maximum amount of coking coal is found in Damodar Valley. In Jharkhand, a place named Jharia has the largest coal mine in India. The other big coal mines in Jharkhand are Chandrapura, Bakora, Giridhi, Karanpura and Ramghar. Whereas, in West Bengal, the major coal mine is situated in Raniganj.  

2. The Son Valley Coalfield: It is stretched between Uttar Pradesh, and the majority area falls under Madhya Pradesh. In Madhya Pradesh, the Singrauli Mining area is considered to be the biggest mining field and is known for coal production. Sohagpur, Umaria, Tatapani and Ramkhola are some of the biggest coal mines in Madhya Pradesh.   

3. The Mahanadi Coalfield: The Mahanadi coalfield is located in both Chattisgarh and Odisha. In Chhattisgarh state, Korba district, Bishrampur, Jhilmil and Chirmir are the major coalfields. In Orissa, Talcher and Rampur-Hingir that fall in Sambalpur district is the major coal mines. 

4. The Godavari Coalfield: The coalfield is located in the state of Telangana. Khammam, Karimnagar and Warrangal are the major coal mines in Telangana. The famous coal mine in Telangana is Singer Coalfield that is situated in Khammam district. Tandoor and Sasti are the second famous coalfields of Telengana that fall under the district of Adilabad. 

5. The Warda Coalfield: In Maharashtra, the districts of Nagpur, Yavatmal and Chandrapur have the major coalfields. Chandrapur, Valarpur and Kamapati are the major coal mining sites that are situated in Chandrapur, Yavatmal and Kampati districts, respectively.

6. The Satpura Coalfield: To the south of the Narmada valley, the coal mine is located in the valley of Pench-Kanhan-Tawa. This place is known as Satpura Gondava Basin. Gorabari, which is situated in the Kanhan Valley, is a renowned mining site. Another major coalfield in the Pench valley is named Patharkeda, which falls under Betul district.