The mining industry in India is a major economic activity which contributes significantly to the economy of India. The gross domestic product (GDP) contribution of the mining industry varies from 2.2% to 2.5% only but going by the GDP of the total industrial sector, it contributes around 10% to 11%. Even mining done on small scale contributes 6% to the entire cost of mineral production. Indian mining industry provides job opportunities to around 700 individuals.
As of 2012, India is the largest producer of sheet mica, 2015 the fourth largest producer of iron ore, alumina, chromite, and bauxite in the world. A coal and iron ore project is in the fifth largest reserve in the world. India's metal and mining industry was estimated to be $106.4 billion in 2010.
Mining in India has been prominent since ancient times. The field is noted for significantly contributing to the economy of the nation. However, the mining in India is also infamous for human rights violations and environmental pollution. The industry has been hit by several high-profile mining scandals in recent times.
Introduction The tradition of mining in the region is ancient and underwent modernization alongside the rest of the world as India has gained independence in 1947. The economic reforms of 1991 and the 1993 National Mining Policy further helped the growth of the mining sector. India's minerals range from both metallic and non-metallic types. The metallic minerals comprise ferrous and non-ferrous minerals, while the nonmetallic minerals comprise mineral fuels, precious stones, among others.Khullar, 632-633฿
D.R. Khullar holds that mining in India depends on over 3,100 mines, out of which over 550 are fuel mines, over 560 are mines for metals, and over 1970 are mines for extraction of nonmetals.Khullar, 631 The figure given by S.N. Padhi is: 'about 600 coal mines, 35 oil projects and 6,000 metalliferous mines of different sizes employing over one million persons on a daily average basis.'Padhi, 1019 Both open cast mining and underground mining operations are carried out and drilling/pumping is undertaken for extracting liquid or gaseous fuels. The country produces and works with roughly 100 minerals, which are an important source for earning foreign exchange as well as satisfying domestic needs. India also exports iron ore, titanium, manganese, bauxite, granite, and imports cobalt, mercury, graphite etc.
Unless controlled by other departments of the Government of India, mineral resources of the country are surveyed by the Ministry of Mines, which also regulates the manner in which these resources are used.Annual Report (2007-2008), Ministry of Mines, chapter 4, page 4 The ministry oversees the various aspects of industrial mining in the country. Both the Geological Survey of India and the Indian Bureau of Mines are also controlled by the ministry. Natural gas, petroleum and atomic minerals are exempt from the various activities of the Indian Ministry of Mines.
History
Flint was known and exploited by the inhabitants of the Indus Valley Civilization by the 3rd millennium BCE.Biagi, page 1856 P. Biagi and M. Cremaschi of Milan University discovered a number of Harappan quarries in archaeological excavations dating between 1985 and 1986.Biagi, 1857 Biagi (2008) describes the quarries: 'From the surface the quarries consisted of almost circular empty areas, representing the quarry–pits, filled with aeolian sand, blown from the Thar Desert dunes, and heaps of limestone block, deriving from the prehistoric mining activity. All around these structures flint workshops were noticed, represented by scatters of flint flakes and blades among which typical Harappan-elongated blade cores and characteristic bullet cores with very narrow bladelet detachments.'Biagi, 1858 Between 1995 and 1998, Accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon dating of Zyzyphus cf. nummularia charcoal found in the quarries has yielded evidence that the activity continued into 1870-1800 BCE.Biagi, 1860
Minerals subsequently found mention in Indian literature. George Robert Rapp—on the subject of minerals mentioned in India's literature—holds that:
Geographical distribution
The distribution of minerals in the country is uneven and mineral density varies from region to region. D.R. Khullar identifies five mineral 'belts' in the country: The North Eastern Peninsular Belt, Central Belt, Southern Belt, South Western Belt, and the North Western Belt. The details of the various geographical 'belts' are given in the table below:Khullar, 632
Mineral Belt Location Minerals foundNorth Eastern Peninsular Belt Chota Nagpur Plateau and the Odisha plateau covering the states of Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha. Coal, iron ore, manganese, mica, bauxite, copper, kyanite, chromite, beryl, apatite etc. Khullar calls this region the mineral heartland of India and further cites studies to state that: 'this region possesses India's 100 percent Kyanite, 93 percent iron ore, 84 percent coal, 70 percent chromite, 70 percent mica, 50 percent fire clay, 45 percent asbestos, 45 percent china clay, 20 percent limestone and 10 percent manganese.'Central Belt Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Manganese, bauxite, uranium, limestone, marble, coal, gems, mica, graphite etc. exist in large quantities and the net extent of the minerals of the region is yet to be assessed. This is the second largest belt of minerals in the country.Southern Belt Karnataka plateau and Tamil Nadu. Ferrous minerals and bauxite. Low diversity.South Western Belt Karnataka and Goa. Iron ore, garnet and clay.North Western Belt Rajasthan and Gujarat along the Aravali Range. Non-ferrous minerals, uranium, mica, beryllium, aquamarine, petroleum, gypsum and emerald.
India has yet to fully explore the mineral wealth within its marine territory, mountain ranges, and a few states and regions e.g. Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, Assam.
Over the last three years, Gadchiroli has also emerged as a mining hub, on its way to becoming another steel hub of India. Companies such as Lloyd's Metal and Energy Limited, with mines operated by Thriveni Earthmovers, have been successful in navigating internal conflict to start mining operations in the region since 2021. They have also received a government push, which aims to establish the region as the steel hub of India by 2030.
The Maharashtra government has been working on improving infrastructure in the region to make this a reality. The LMEL's current Surjagad Iron Ore Mines, currently operating are set to reach a production capacity of 25 MTPA, with the foundations of the Integrated Steel Plant already underway. Another player, Surjagad Ispat, has already entered the region, and more are sure to follow.
If this becomes a reality, India steel capacity will increase, reducing both cost and an overall dependency on steel imports from China.
Newly discovered mines/deposits Project Metal/Resource Discovered by Location NotesLithium Mines in Salal-Haimana area of Reasi districtLithiumGeological Survey of IndiaJammu and KashmirJammu and Kashmir lithium reserves found in Salal-Haimana area of Reasi districtLithium Mines in Degana's Renvat hill and its surrounding areasLithiumGeological Survey of IndiaRajasthanLithium Mines in East Singhbhum and HazaribaghLithium National Mineral Exploration Trust (NMET)JharkhandLithium Mines in MadhyaLithium Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD)Karnatakalithium reserves have been found near Mandya by researchers of the Atomic Minerals Directorate. The reserves have been estimated at 14,100 tonnes in a small patch of land surveyed in Mandya that was published in the Current Science journal.Lithium Mines in YadgiriLithium Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD)Karnatakapreliminary survey indicates lithium deposits in Yadgiri district Tantalum Mines in Sutlej RiverTantalum IIT RoparRopar, PunjabUranium Mines in Sikar, Rohil west, Jahaz and Geratiyon ki Dhani districtsUranium Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD) Rajasthan the Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD) found 8,813 tonnes of uranium oxide deposits in Rohil in Sikar district, 1,086 tonnes in Rohil west, 3,570 tonnes in Jahaz and 1,002 tonnes in Geratiyon ki Dhani.Rare earth Mines in Ananthapur districtLight Rare Earth National Geophysical Research InstituteAnanthapur, Andhra PradeshThe light rare earth element minerals found in Ananthapur district include allanite, cerite, thorite, columbite, tantalite, apatite, zircon, monazite, pyrochlore euxenite and fluorite.Rare earth deposits in Alang beachVanadium Geological Survey of IndiaAlang, GujaratGSI researchers suggested that the vanadiferous titanomagnetite deposits in the Gulf of Khambhat may have been transported from the Deccan basalts region, primarily through the Narmada and Tapi rivers. They gathered a total of 69 sediment samples from this Gulf.Rare earth Mines in Barmar districtRare Earth Department of Atomic EnergyBarmar, RajasthanGood reserves of rare earth elements (REE) like bastnasite, britolite, synchisite and xenotime have been found in carbonates and microgranite rocks in south west parts of Rajasthan. Microgranite rocks have been found in Jalore's Siwana, which has the rarest Genotime rare earth deposits, while 5 million tonnes of rare earth elements deposits are also possible in Barmer's Kamthai, Dhani granite block near Pali and carbonates in Nivaniya village near Udaipur.Gold Mines in Sonbhadra districtGold UP geologySonbhadra, Uttar PradeshGold Mines in Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Deogarh districtGold Directorate of Mines and Geological Survey of IndiaOdishaGold mines have been found at different locations of three districts of Odisha. These gold deposits have been found at four places in Keonjhar District, four places in Mayurbhanj District and at one place in Deogarh district.Gold Mines in Jamui districtGold Geological Survey of IndiaJamui, BiharGold Mines in Jonnagiri districtGold Jonnagiri, Andhra PradeshDeccan Gold Mines Ltd (DGML), the first and only gold exploration company listed on BSE, has a significant stake of 40 per cent in Geomysore Services India Limited which is developing the first private sector gold mine at Jonnagiri. Production is likely to begin in either October or November 2024.
Minerals
Along with 48.83% arable land, India has significant sources of coal (fourth-largest reserves in the world), bauxite, titanium ore, chromite, natural gas, diamonds, petroleum, and limestone. According to the 2008 Ministry of Mines estimates: 'India has stepped up its production to reach the second rank among the chromite producers of the world. Besides, India ranks 3rd in production of coal & lignite, 2nd in barites, 4th in iron ore, 5th in bauxite and crude steel, 7th in manganese ore and 8th in aluminium.'India's Contribution to the World's mineral Production (2008), Ministry of Mines, Government of India. National Informatics Centre.
India accounts for 12% of the world's known and economically available thorium. It is the world's largest producer and exporter of mica, accounting for almost 60 percent of the net mica production in the world, which it exports to the United Kingdom, Japan, United States of America etc.Khullar, 650-651 As one of the largest producers and exporters of iron ore in the world, its majority exports go to Japan, Korea, Europe and the Middle East.Khullar, 638 Japan accounts for nearly 3/4 of India's total iron ore exports. It also has one of the largest deposits of manganese in the world, and is a leading producer as well as exporter of manganese ore, which it exports to Japan, Europe (Sweden, Belgium, Norway, among other countries), and to a lesser extent, the United States of America.Khullar, 638-640
Production