Give an example of a new coal field being developed in India.
Answers
Coal-fired power plants have been criticised for breaking environmental laws,[1] and phasing out coal would have short-term heath and environmental benefits greatly exceeding the costs.
Answer:
Coal in India has been mined since 1774 and is now the second fastest mined in the world, producing 716 million metric tons (789 million short tons) in 2018. In 2017, India had 315.14 billion metric tons (347.38 billion short tons) of coal. The estimated total reserves of lignite coal that month was 44.70 billion metric tons (49.27 billion short tons). Due to high demand and poor average quality, India imports coking coal to meet the requirements of its steel plants. India's coal imports have risen from 49.8 million metric tons (0.0549 billion short tons) in 2007–08 to 191 million metric tons (0.211 billion short tons) in 2016–17. India's coal exports rose from 1.63 million metric tons (1.80 million short tons) in 2007–08 to 2.44 million metric tons (2.69 million short tons) in 2012–13, but subsequently declined to 1.77 million metric tons (1.95 million short tons) in 2016–17. Dhanbad city is the largest coal producing city. State-owned Coal India had a monopoly on coal mining between its nationalisation in 1973 and 2018.
Explanation:
India has the fifth largest coal reserves in the world. As on 31 March 2018, India had 319.04 billion metric tons (351.68 billion short tons) of the resource. The known reserves of coal rose 1.23% over the previous year, with the discovery of an estimated 3.88 billion metric tons (4.28 billion short tons). The estimated total reserves of lignite coal as on 31 March 2018 was 45.66 billion metric tons (50.33 billion short tons), a decrease of 0.96% from the previous year.[19]Coal deposits are primarily found in eastern and south-central India. Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra accounted for 98.26% of the total known coal reserves in India. As on 31 March 2018, Jharkhand and Odisha had the largest coal deposits of 26.06% and 24.86% respectively.[19]The energy derived from coal in India is about twice that of the energy derived from oil, whereas worldwide, energy derived from coal is about 30% less thanenergy derived from oil.[citation needed]