Coal and Lignite Resources
(Source: Ministry of Coal)
The Indian coal deposits are primarily concentrated in the Gondwana sediments (Upper Paleozoic to Mesozoic systems) located in the Eastern and Central parts of Peninsular India and also in parts of North Eastern Regions Viz., Sikkim, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. The coal is of bituminous to sub-bituminous rank and is restricted to the sediments of Permian age
As per GSI compilation of resources as on 1st April 2025, in situ geological resources of coal in India up to a depth of 1200 meters are 400,715.45 Million Tonnes (or ~400.7 billion tonnes) which includes proved, indicated and inferred resources
Out of the total resource of 400,715.45 MT as on 1st April, 2025, the share of proved, indicated and inferred resources are 220,382.08 MT (55.00%), 149,065.44 MT (37.20%) and 31,267.93 MT (7.80%) respectively
Of the total resources, the share of Prime Coking is 5,443.41 MT (1.36%), Medium Coking is 30,132.09 MT (7.52%), and Blendable/Semi Coking is 1,797.48 MT (0.45%). Share of Non-coking Coal (Including High Sulphur) is 361,647.82 MT (90.25%)
Out of the total geological resources in the country, 384,318.09 (95.91%) million Tonnes (MT) are shared by seven states, Odisha 100,975.78 (25.20%), Jharkhand 93,254.06 MT (23.27%), Chhattisgarh 85,263.22 MT (21.28%), West Bengal 34,386.09 MT (8.58%), Madhya Pradesh 33,563.62 MT (8.38%), Telangana 23,288.62 MT (5.81%) and Maharashtra 13,586.70 MT (3.39%)
Table below captures depth-wise inventory of coal resources split into Proved, Indicated and Inferred categories
An immediate question that might come to the mind after reading the table is, why 0-300 m as well as 0-600 m separately and is 0-300 m not part of 0-600 m? The answer lies in the fact that 0-600 m classification is only for Jharia Coalfield, the same is excluded from 0-300 m, and hence there is no double counting
Out of total resources of 400,715.45 million tonnes, 210,199.8 million tonnes (52.5%) are in 0-300 m depth category
If we consider only the Proved reserves, out of total reserves of 220,412.34 million tonnes, 144,965.81 million tonnes or 65.8% are in 0-300 m depth category
Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) programs, coordinates and reviews the regional exploration work concerning lignite resources
Total lignite resources of the country as on 1st April 2025 are 47,295.61 MT which include proved, indicated and inferred resources. Out of the total lignite resources, almost all i.e. 46,831.94 MT (99.02%) are shared majorly by the states of Tamil Nadu 37,523.65 (79.34%), Rajasthan 6,586.24 (13.93%) and Gujarat 2,722.05 (5.76%)
