Mineral Resources in India

India is the largest producer of iron ore among SAARC nations.

Jharkhand has the largest iron ore reserve in India. About 25.7% of iron reserve is found in Jharkhand.

Iron, copper, gold and silver are metallic minerals.

Magnetite contains 70% of iron.

Bailadila range in the belt of Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh is situated in Bastar district is the largest mechanised mine in Asia.

The amount of haemetite found in India is 75% and it is the most abundant iron ore found in India.

India stands fourth in the production of iron ore.

Japan is the biggest buyer of iron ore from India.

North eastern region includes Odisha and Jharkhand. The reserves are about 19% and the production is about 33%. Central region includes Madhya Pradesh and North Maharashtra. The reserves are about 15% and the production is about 39%. The peninsular plateau region includes Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and South Maharashtra.The reserves are about 45% and the production is 30%.

India ranks second in the world in the production of manganese ore. There are 167 million tonnes of manganese ore reserves in In­dia, out of which, India produces 13 lakh tonnes of this ore annually. Orissa is the leading producer of manganese.

North eastern plateau region includes chhotanagpur (jharkhand), odisha plateau, west bengal and parts of chattisgarh. North western region includes aravali in rajasthan and parts of gujarat. South western plateau includes karnataka, tamil nadu uplands and kerala.

Aluminium is extracted from bauxite.

Odisha is the largest bauxite producing state accounting for more than half of the total production of India. The total recoverable reserves in the state are estimated at 1,370.5 million tonnes. The main bauxite belt is in Kalahandi and Koraput districts and extends further into Andhra Pradesh.

Odisha is the leading producer of manganese in India.

Lignite production has been increased in recent years in India.

Gondwana coal fields are the oldest coal fields in the world. These coal fields are about 250 million years old. These coal fields occur mostly in river valleys such as Damodar, Mahanadi, Son, Godavari, Wardha and Narmada.

Odisha is the largest producer of coal in India.

Raniganj is one of the oldest coal mines in India. It was established in 1174 at raniganj. Raniganj is the largest colafields in West Bengal. Most of the coal is used by railways and thermal power plants.

Nevyeli situated in Cuddalore district in Tamil Nadu is the largest lignite coal producer in India.

293.5 billion metric tonnes is the total estimated coal reserve in India.

The total number of oil refineries in India is 25.

India stands third in the production of coal in the world.

It is the largest oil refinery in the world. It was commissioned on 15 July 1999. It has a capacity of 1,240,000 barrels per day.

Mumbai high oil fields is the highest producer of crude oil in India. The mumbai high oil fields were discovered in 1974. It is located about 176 km North-West of Mumbai.

Petroleum is taken out from the Mumbai high oil fields with the help of a specially designed platform known as Sagar Samrat.

About 80% of the coal deposits in India is of bituminous type.

Lignite is also known as brown coal. It is soft, but more compact than peat.

Nevyeli, Tamil Nadu has the largest coal reserves in India.

Peat represents the first stage of coal formation, i.e. from wood to coal. The carbon content in peat is less than 40%.

Correct option is (4).