Minerals constitute the back-bone of economic growth of any nation and India has been eminently endowed with this gift of nature. There are many evidence that exploitation of minerals like coal, iron-ore, copper, lead-zinc has been going on in the country from time immemorial. However, the first recorded history of mining in India dates back to 1774 when an English Company was granted permission by the East India Company for mining coal in Raniganj. M/s John Taylor & Sons Ltd. started gold mining in Kolar Gold Fields in the year 1880. The first oil well was drilled in Digboi in the year 1866 - just seven years after the first ever oil well was drilled anywhere in the world viz. in Pennsylvania State, USA in 1859. Mining activities in the country however remained primitive in nature and modest in scale uptill the beginning of the current century. Thereafter, with progressive industrialisation the demand for and hence the production of various minerals gradually went up. After India became independent, the growth of mining under the impact of successive Five Year Plans has been very fast. There are ambitious plans in coal, metalliferous and oil sectors to increase production of minerals during the 8th Five Year Plan and thereafter.
Coal: Deposits & Exploration
India’s major workable coal deposits occur in two distinct stratigraphic horizons - Permian, commonly known as "Gondwana" coals and the Tertiary. About 99% of the country’s coal resources are found within a great succession of fresh water sediments. The major coalfields are represented by isolated basins which occur along prominent present day river valleys, viz., Damodar, Koel, Sone-Mahanadi, Pench-Kanhan, Pranhita-Godavari. Nearly 50 coalfields, varying in size from a few km2 to as much as 1500 km2 are known today, barring the small and lenticular occurrences of coal along the Himalayan foothills.
Coals of practically all ranks occur in India except peat and anthracite. The share of lignite, however, is insignificant as compared to sub-bituminous and bituminous coal. Indian bituminous coals are broadly divided into two categories, coking and non-coking.
Coal exploration in India even today is largely being carried out by conventional methods of systematic geological mapping followed by drilling, core drilling playing a dominant role. However, in the recent times modern exploration techniques like photo-geology, remote sensing, non-coring drilling, geophysical surveys etc. are being increasingly used for detailed and precise exploration.
Coal Reserves
The total coal reserves of the country have been estimated from time to time.
* Proved Reserves: In this case, the reserves are estimated from dimensions revealed in outcrops, trenches, mine workings and boreholes and the extension of the same for reasonable distance not exceeding 200m on geological evidence. Where little or no exploratory work has been done, and where the outcrop exceeds one km in length, another line drawn roughly 200m in from outcrop will define a block of coal that may be regarded as proved on the basis of geological evidence.
* Indicated Reserves: In the case of indicated reserves, the points of observation are 1,000 m apart, but may be 2,000 m for beds of known geological continuity . Thus a line drawn 1,000 to 2,000 m from an outcrop will demarcate the block of coal to be regarded as indicated.
* Inferred reserves : This refers to coal for which quantitative estimates are based largely on broad knowledge of the geological character of the bed, but for which there are no measurements. The estimates are based on an assumed continuity for which there is geological evidence, and more than 1,000 to 2,000 m from the outcrop.
Statewise and depthwise Coal reserves are given in the following table,
In Million Tonnes
| State |
0-300m |
300-600m |
600-1200m |
Total |
| West Bengal |
11999 |
8933 |
4191 |
25123 |
| Bihar |
40079 |
17626 |
6666 |
64371 |
| Madhya Pradesh |
32638 |
7433 |
14 |
40085* |
| Maharashtra |
4590 |
1686 |
- |
6276 |
| Orissa |
35015 |
11167 |
37 |
46219 |
| Andhra Pradesh |
5245 |
3876 |
1717 |
10838 |
| North Eastern Region |
710 |
155 |
- |
865 |
| Total |
130276 |
50876 |
12625 |
193777 |
| Percentage |
67 |
26 |
7 |
100 |
* includes 1062 Million. Tonnes in UP
The following table gives the Statewise reserves indicating different categories,
| State |
Proved |
Indicated |
Inferred |
Total |
Percentage of total reserve |
| West Bengal |
10590 |
10867 |
3666 |
25123 |
13 |
| Bihar |
28993 |
28801 |
6579 |
64373 |
33 |
| Madhya Pradesh |
9387 |
20480 |
9156 |
39023 |
20 |
| Uttar Pradesh |
662 |
400 |
- |
1062 |
1 |
| Maharashtra |
3170 |
1179 |
1927 |
6276 |
3 |
| Orissa |
5714 |
22120 |
18384 |
46218 |
24 |
| Andhra Pradesh |
6079 |
916 |
3843 |
10838 |
5 |
| North Eastern Region |
257 |
149 |
458 |
864 |
1 |
| Total |
64852 |
84912 |
44012 |
193777 |
100 |
| Percentage |
33 |
44 |
23 |
100 |
Thus, India’s total coal resources now stand at a level of a little over 194 billion tonnes in coal seams of thickness 0.9m and above and upto a depth of 1200m. This is a little over 1% of the global coal resources. Of the total coal reserves of 194 billion tonnes, 85% is of non-coking variety and only 15% is of coking variety. Further, 33% of the reserves fall under ‘Proved’ category 44% in the ‘Indicated’ category and 23% in the ‘Inferred’ category. The coal occurring between 600m and 1200m depths, which may be economically tapped for development in future, may be grouped as "Resources" and the rest as "Reserves".
Lignite Resources
The total lignite deposit of the country is estimated at about 2800 million tonnes, out of which the major deposit is occurring in Tamilnadu ( 2500 million tonnes). The remaining lignite deposits are found in Gujrat, Jammu & Kashmir and Rajasthan. Further exploration activities indicate availability of additional lignite resources in Rajasthan, Gujrat and Tamilnadu.
Mineral Resources (Other than Coal & Oil)
India is largely self sufficient in most of the minerals which include barytes, bauxite, chromite, dolomite, fluorspar, gypsum, iron ore, kyanite, limestone, manganese ore, magnesite, sillimanite, etc. except the minerals like copper, asbestos, lead and zinc, natural phosphates, sulphur and crude petroleum, in which domestic production meets the demand only partially.
India is rich in the resources of minerals like iron ore, bauxite, manganese, baryte etc. It has resources of 12745 million tonnes of iron ore, 2,525 million tonnes of bauxite, 76446 million tonnes of limestone, 233 million tonnes of magnesite, 167 million tonnes of lead & zinc ore, 70 million tonnes of barytes, 176 million tonnes of manganese ore and 90 million tonnes of chromite. The reserves of iron ore, bauxite and manganese accounts for nearly 7 per cent, 16 per cent and 6 per cent respectively of the total known global resources of these minerals. India possesses the largest known reserves of barytes in the world.
Oil Resources
India has prognosticated hydrocarbon reserves of more than 17 billion tonnes of which only about 5 billion tonnes have been converted into geological in-place reserves. This brings out the magnitude of exploratory efforts still to be carried out. The proved and indicated balance recoverable reserves of crude oil and natural gas are given in the table below:
Reserves of Crude Oil & Natural Gas
| State |
Crude Oil |
Natural Gas |
| Gujrat |
143.02 |
62.11 |
| Assam, Nagaland & Rajasthan |
124.38 |
106.27 |
| Bombay High |
371.04 |
411.09 |
| Total (All India) |
638.44 |
579.47 |
* Crude Oil in million Tonnes, Natural gas in Billion Cubic metre
Operating Mines
India has a unique blend of big and small, manual and mechanised, opencast and underground mines. The total number of working coal mines as on date are 572, in oil sector there are 29 oil projects excluding installations off-shore beyond territorial waters. As far as metalliferous mines are concerned the number of mines which are submitting returns stands at about 2,500. However, there are many more mines which are small in size, seasonal in nature and which are not submitting the statutory returns, a fair estimate indicates that total number of metalliferous mines are about 6000. Total workforce of the mining industry in India consists of about one (1) million workers.
Mining in India: Legacy of the past
Coal mining
The development of coal mining in India was historically linked with the development of the railway system. Establishment of the railway lines prompted many companies to take up mining leases. Large number of mining leases were granted by the erstwhile Zemindars and Rajahs, the terms of leases and the periods varied, some being in perpetuity, some for 999 years and other for shorter periods. With the increasing awareness of the values of the properties, lease periods became shorter and leased areas smaller. By the end of the World War I the prolification of small owners became a problem and the coal mines of Raniganj & Jharia came to acquire all the characteristics which created chronic problems in future years.
From as early as the 1920’s, the various consultants, commissions and committees sat over to decide on the question of conservation and scientific exploitation of coal, working conditions in the mines and safety of the work persons, and thereby regulate and control the coal industry in India. All of them emphasised the necessity to have state ownership of the coal mines. The overall problem of coking coal in India has been studied in depth by a whole herd of prestigious committees including the Indian Coal Mining Committee (1937), the Indian Coalfields Committee (1946), the Committee on Metallurgical coal conservation (1950). The Estimates Committee of the Lok Sabha (1954-55) took notice of the evidence submitted by different agencies. The then Coal Commissioner in his evidence to the estimates committee wrote among other thins.
".............. we will be left with a number of units, which if not affected by underground fires, and other hazardous conditions, would be uneconomic to work." The architect of coal nationalisation, the late S. Mohan Kumaramangalam, the then Minister of Steel and Mines had given a vivid description of the mines of Jharia coalfield in his book "Coal Industry in India".
"Slaughter mining, lack of conservation and unscientific methods remained characteristic of large areas of the industry ....................... lack of safety & welfare measures, robbing of pillar of coal, selectives, seasonal and shallow depth mining in a haphazard manner, etc. seemed to be the guiding principles of a large number of the private collieries."
All these, led to the take-over of coking coal mines on the 16th October, 1971. Subsequently, these mines were nationalised on the 1st May, 1972 and are now operated by M/s.Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL). By Coal Mines (Taking over of Management) Ordinance 1973 the non-coking coal mines were also taken over. The mines were nationalised on the 1st May, 1973 and brought under the management of the Coal Mines Authrority Limited (CMAL). Later on the CMAL and the BCCL were merged and the holding company Coal India Limited (CIL) was formed on the 1st November, 1975.
The beginning of coal mining in Central provinces dates from the year 1862 and in the Rewa state from 1884. The Singareni field in the Hyderabad state had been discovered in 1872 and went into production some 15 years later. Appreciable development also took place in Upper Assam from 1881 and in Baluchistan and Punjab (now in Pakistan) in the last decade of the 19th century. Bokaro Karanpura areas were first examined between 1846 and 1848. Development of the Bokaro field commenced in 1915. Production from the Karanpura field did not commence until 1925.
No .of Coal Mines in India – Company Wise as on 31.03.2004
Company |
No. of Collieries |
|||
OC |
UG |
Mixed |
Total |
|
| COAL: | ||||
1. ECL |
18 |
92 |
2 |
112 |
2. BCCL |
15 |
49 |
16 |
80 |
3. CCL |
35 |
22 |
6 |
63 |
4. NCL |
8 |
0 |
0 |
8 |
5. WCL |
33 |
42 |
5 |
80 |
6. SECL |
19 |
76 |
2 |
97 |
7.MCL |
14 |
9 |
0 |
23 |
8.NEC |
2 |
5 |
0 |
7 |
| Total CIL (1 to 8) | 144 |
295 |
31 |
470 |
| SCCL | 12 |
55 |
0 |
67 |
| BSMDCL | 1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| DVC | 1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| IISCO | 0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| JKML | 1 |
3 |
0 |
4 |
| BECML | 1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
ICML |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| JSPL | 1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
| TISCO | 2 |
5 |
0 |
7 |
| TOTAL COAL | 164 |
359 |
33 |
556 |
| LIGNITE: | ||||
| NLC | 2 |
2 |
||
| GMDCL | 2 |
2 |
||
| GIPCL | 1 |
1 |
||
| RSMDCL | 1 |
1 |
||
| TOTAL LIGNITE | 6 |
6 |
||
| TOTAL COAL + LIGNITE | 170 |
359 |
33 |
576 |
NO OF COAL MINES – SECTOR WISE AS ON 31-03-2003
STATES |
NO OF COLLIERIES |
|||
OC |
UG |
MIXED |
TOTAL |
|
COAL PUBLIC |
160 |
354 |
33 |
547 |
COAL PRIVATE |
4 |
5 |
0 |
9 |
LIGNITE PUBLIC |
5 |
5 |
||
LIGNITE PRIVATE |
1 |
1 |
||
TOTAL |
170 |
359 |
33 |
562 |
NO OF COAL MINES – STATE WISE AS ON 31-03-2003
STATES |
NO OF COLLIERIES |
|||
OC |
UG |
MIXED |
TOTAL |
|
COAL: |
||||
ANDHRA |
12 |
55 |
67 |
|
ASSAM |
2 |
4 |
6 |
|
CHHATTISGARH |
12 |
44 |
2 |
58 |
J & K |
1 |
3 |
4 |
|
JHARKHAND |
60 |
85 |
24 |
169 |
MADHYA PRADESH |
18 |
53 |
4 |
75 |
MAHARASHTRA |
28 |
21 |
1 |
50 |
MEGHALAYA |
1 |
1 |
||
ORISSA |
14 |
9 |
23 |
|
WEST BENGAL |
14 |
84 |
2 |
100 |
UP |
3 |
3 |
||
TOTAL COAL |
164 |
359 |
33 |
556 |
LIGNITE: |
||||
GUJARAT |
3 |
3 |
||
TAMIL NADU |
2 |
2 |
||
RAJASTHAN |
1 |
1 |
||
TOTAL LIGNITE |
6 |
6 |
||
TOTAL COAL + LIGNITE |
170 |
359 |
33 |
562 |
Metalliferous Mines
At the turn of the century, India produced 14 minerals of commercial value. Now, the country produces 11 metallic and 45 non-metallic minerals except coal and oil. In India, production of minerals dates back to ancient times. Remnants of old workings can still be seen in some parts of the country. In fact, some of these have led to the discovery of several large mineral deposits which are being worked today like Lead & Zinc in Zawar, Copper in Khetri, Gold in Karnataka etc. Despite the active past, the metal mining activities in the country remained dormant over a long period until the beginning of this century.
Growth of the Industry
The post- Independence era witnessed a massive expansion of exploration activities through various five-year plans which included the augmentation of mineral inventory as well as addition of a number of mineral reserves to the existing ones. This took the country into the realm of plenty in respect of some minerals which were earlier regarded as scarce.
The search for minerals did not remain only on the land mass alone but extended to off-shore areas and deep seas. Large reserves of oil were discovered in the off-shore areas and their exploitation opened up new and exciting vistas in the oil sector thereby conserving huge foreign exchange reserves. In the Indian Ocean, India has explored successfully the presence of poly metallic nodules lying on the ocean floor at a depth exceeding 3000 metres which bear metals such as copper, cobalt, nickel, manganese, etc.
Keeping with the spirit of Industrial Policy for higher targets of mineral production, the expansion and augmentation of mineral based industry in the country was quite obvious. Therefore, ambitious programmes were launched to increase the production of minerals to meet the ever growing demand of the core industries like steel, non-ferrous metals, fertilisers, etc. keeping in view also the higher exports for much needed foreign exchange. Many public sector organisations were set up to take up exploration and exploitation of minerals and the state assumed direct responsibility for developing mines of important minerals and establishing mineral based industries. Thus there were increases not only of minerals but also in the metal production as well as cement, chemicals, fertilizers and several other mineral based products.
The table below indicates the trend in growth of production of some important minerals in our country.
| Production in Million Tonnes |
||||||
| Year |
Coal |
Copper Ore |
Lead & Zinc Ore |
Iron Ore |
Limestone |
Bauxite |
| 1951 |
34.98 |
0.37 |
0.01 |
3.71 |
2.96 |
0.06 |
| 1961 |
55.71 |
0.42 |
0.15 |
12.26 |
15.73 |
0.48 |
| 1971 |
75.64 |
0.68 |
0.30 |
32.97 |
25.26 |
1.45 |
| 1981 |
127.32 |
2.01 |
0.96 |
42.78 |
32.56 |
1.75 |
| 1991 |
237.76 |
5.05 |
1.82 |
60.03 |
75.02 |
3.86 |
| 1993 |
260.60 |
5.15 |
2.10 |
63.26 |
87.72 |
4.81 |
| 1994 |
267.52 |
4.78 |
1.90 |
64.91 |
86.77 |
4.70 |
| 1995 |
284.59 |
4.77 |
2.10 |
73.00 |
93.64 |
5.09 |
| 1996 |
304.10 |
4.75 |
2.06 |
71.59 |
120.87 |
5.35 |
| 1997 |
316.68 |
4.26 |
2.01 |
78.36 |
123.56 |
5.17 |
| 1998 |
319.90 |
4.38 |
2.23 |
77.34 |
116.61 |
5.91 |
| 1999* |
313.55 |
3.28 |
3.08 |
73.05 |
108.29 |
5.24 |
*Provisional
In the last two decades, coal mining has witnessed a phenomenal growth in production from 70 million tonnes in 1971-72 to 246 million tonnes in 1993-94 and is projected to touch about 400 million tonnes by the turn of the century.
The strategies adopted for rapid expansion of mining activities include increased mechanisation, adoption of new technologies & their adaptation under Indian geo-mining conditions and assimilation of latest scientific innovations in the concerned areas. However, it has also brought in its wake increased hazard potential posing new problems of safety management.
The new liberalised industrial policy may lead to high and accelerated growth in mineral industry to complement and supplement the revival and rapid growth of national economy. The present day environment demands of us to have a fresh look at safety management as a structured process composed of well defined systems that emphasises continuous improvement in work quality, health, welfare and productivity of workforce engaged in mineral industry through setting up of improved safety standards and their effective implementation and administration.
Minerals & Economy
The gross value of mineral production in India in 1995 is estimated to be approximate Rs.2,70,000 million up from about Rs.1,800 million in 1961, i.e. by nearly 150 times. Mineral wealth and its exploitation have substantially contributed to the growth of national economy. The contribution of mineral production to the Gross National Product went up from 1.02% in 1960-61 to 1.54% in 1980-81. Minerals continued to play a vital role in India’s overseas trade too.
Employment
With the growth of production, employment in the mineral industry has also grown phenomenally during the last few decades. The following table indicate the trends:
| Average daily employment in Mines ( in '000 ) |
|||||||||||
| Year |
Coal |
Oil |
Copper |
Gold |
Iron |
Lime |
Mang. |
Mica |
Stone |
Others |
Total |
| Ore |
Ore |
Ore |
Stone |
Ore |
Metals |
||||||
| 1951 |
351.9 |
N.A. |
3.7 |
21.9 |
20.2 |
16.0 |
55.5 |
25.2 |
5.1 |
49.5 |
197.1 |
| 1961 |
411.2 |
N.A. |
4.2 |
16.3 |
54.5 |
54.6 |
46.9 |
29.6 |
8.5 |
45.1 |
259.7 |
| 1971 |
382.3 |
13.6 |
7.6 |
12.4 |
52.8 |
53.2 |
30.4 |
12.2 |
8.8 |
57.5 |
234.9 |
| 1981 |
513.4 |
14.5 |
13.4 |
12.3 |
44.9 |
49.8 |
26.5 |
6.7 |
7.7 |
60.6 |
221.9 |
| 1986 |
543.3 |
24.9 |
13.2 |
11.9 |
46.6 |
50.2 |
17.7 |
3.3 |
10.2 |
68.1 |
221.2 |
| 1987 |
549.7 |
25.9 |
12.6 |
11.6 |
48.8 |
51.2 |
17.6 |
3.3 |
10.8 |
69.6 |
225.5 |
| 1988 |
537.8 |
26.6 |
12.3 |
10.9 |
46.0 |
43.0 |
17.4 |
2.8 |
14.2 |
60.5 |
207.1 |
| 1989 |
548.1 |
25.2 |
10.8 |
10.5 |
44.5 |
44.6 |
16.1 |
2.9 |
12.9 |
62.0 |
204.3 |
| 1990 |
549.0 |
26.9 |
12.3 |
9.7 |
38.1 |
41.5 |
17.3 |
2.3 |
10.1 |
58.0 |
189.3 |
| 1991 |
554.1 |
35.5 |
12.8 |
9.3 |
40.1 |
43.5 |
17.9 |
2.2 |
11.2 |
63.2 |
200.2 |
| 1992 |
552.0 |
35.7 |
12.7 |
9.4 |
42.0 |
43.0 |
18.4 |
1.6 |
8.9 |
67.2 |
203.2 |
| 1993 |
546.3 |
33.5 |
12.2 |
7.9 |
39.8 |
41.6 |
18.5 |
1.5 |
9.2 |
68.9 |
199.6 |
| 1994 |
523.7 |
34.3 |
11.2 |
7.4 |
38.5 |
39.8 |
18.2 |
1.7 |
9.4 |
65.2 |
191.4 |
| 1995 |
513.3 |
34.0 |
10.5 |
7.1 |
39.6 |
39.8 |
18.1 |
1.8 |
7.5 |
64.4 |
188.8 |
| 1996 |
506.4 |
33.4 |
9.9 |
6.9 |
39.2 |
35.7 |
18.1 |
1.2 |
5.2 |
60.1 |
176.3 |
| 1997 |
503.4 |
28.6 |
10.3 |
6.8 |
38.6 |
33.0 |
16.0 |
1.2 |
4.9 |
61.6 |
172.4 |
| 1998 |
491.3 |
29.5 |
8.7 |
6.1 |
37.3 |
31.2 |
15.9 |
1.1 |
5.3 |
59.3 |
164.9 |
| 1999* |
486.7 |
25.0 |
7.3 |
6.1 |
38.7 |
30.0 |
14.8 |
0.9 |
4.9 |
63.0 |
165.7 |
*Provisional
Although no firm figures regarding %age of persons employed under contractors in mineral industry could be ascertained but during the visit of the sub-committee of the installations in Kalol oil fields under ONGC, it was reported that approximately 25% of the total workforce engaged at work were employed under contractors on one pretext or the other.
The trend reveals that there has been a gross reduction in employment potential in winning of gold ore, manganese ore and mica . This has come about basically due to two reasons . Firstly the lack of demand of the minerals due to substitution of the same in the user industry viz. the manganese ore in manufacture of steel & mica as insulating material in electrical industry, secondly to the rising cost of production of gold from the poor quality of gold ore available in the country vis-à-vis global market. Barring above the employment in the mineral industry has shown tremendous growth over the years. It is anticipated that the average daily employment in the mineral industry at present is about 1(one) million.
Exploitation of resources: Problems faced
Mining industry in India has been progressing at an annual rate of 4% to 5% during the last three decades. It appears that the concept of ‘growth at all cost’ has become the order of the day. This is rather too heavy a price to pay for development’s sake. This ‘mad rush’ to produce gives way to unsustainable developments.
As far as mining is concerned, the price for progress has also been quite high. The late S Mohan Kumarmangalam, the then Minister of Steel & Mines had given a scathing but vivid description of the coal industry scene in his book ‘Coal Industry in India’. This was generally true of smaller units specially spread over in the Jharia and Raniganj fields.
"Workers were cheated of their legitimate dues. Slaughter mining, lack of conservation and unscientific mining methods remained characteristic of large areas of the industry. The mine owners successfully prevented any further progress towards implementation of the numerous recommendations of the different committees made over the years. ‘Lathials’ or musclemen protected the interests of the mine owners. Rampant corruption, forced labour, dubious and duplicate records, under reporting of production, non-payment of full wages, extended hours of shift without payment of lead or lift, lack of safety and welfare measures, robbing of pillars of coal, selective, seasonal and shallow depth mining in a haphazard manner etc. seemed to be the guiding principles of a large number of private collieries."
Violations of mine safety laws were widespread. The extensive fires and collapses were the result of unscientific mining practiced over the years and the cost to the nation was considerable in the shape of loss of coal reserves and in controlling fires. Mine ventilation was poor, support inadequate, safety equipment conspicuous by their absence. The hazards to which workers were exposed had been a matter of severe criticism. A dangerous situation had developed and the Government could no longer remain a passive spectator. This paved the way for nationalisation of the coal industry during 1971-73.
Though the situation since then has improved considerably in some of the areas, many problems of the past remain and need to be addressed sincerely at this point in time. Quest for development has to go hand in hand with rapid industrialisation, and mining has to remain an important cog in the wheel of development. It is expected that accentuated efforts on mining shall be witnessed in the years to come. As the mine operators begin to look forward for ways and means to improve efficiency and cut costs, safety considerations certainly assume more and more important position and emerge as significant factor even purely on economic considerations. Side by side modern society is also tending more and more to demand a safe and decent work environment, as a social need. Thus, results are being demanded. Tools and skill are available, and achievement with tremendous humanitarian and economic benefits are within the realm of practical possibility.
