Mineral and Energy Resources
Conventional energy: coal, oil, gas and nuclear
Distinguish field-based and market-based refineries.
Coal is found in two kinds of rock: Gondwana coal (over 200 million years old), mostly in the Damodar valley (Jharia, Raniganj), and younger tertiary coal in the north-east. Lignite (brown coal) is found in Tamil Nadu (Neyveli).
Petroleum: Digboi in Assam was India's only oil field until the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) was set up in 1956. Now oil comes from Assam, Gujarat, Mumbai High (offshore) and the Krishna-Godavari basin. Refineries are either field-based (near the oil field, like Digboi) or market-based (near the users, like Barauni).
Natural gas comes from Mumbai High, Cambay and the Krishna-Godavari basin. It is used for power, fertilisers, and as CNG (for vehicles) and PNG (piped to homes).
Nuclear power uses uranium (from Singhbhum and Rajasthan) and thorium (from the monazite sands of Kerala). Nuclear power stations: Tarapur, Rawatbhata, Kalpakkam, Narora, Kaiga and Kakarapara.
Most of India's power still comes from below the ground.
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