Jharkhand has the largest coal reserve in India.
Coal is the most valuable and abundant fossil fuel in India. Coal accounts for approximately 55% of the country’s energy needs. Coal mining in India began in 1774 when the East India Company started the commercial exploitation of Raniganj Coalfields (West Bengal). India has the fifth largest coal reserve in the world after the USA, Russia, China, and Australia. It is the fourth-largest coal producer in the world after China, the USA, and Australia. India is the third-largest coal consumer in the world after China and the USA.
In India, approximately 319.02 Billion tonnes of coal reserve has been estimated. Over 284.498 billion tonnes is non-cooking coal – mainly used in power generation, cement production, and fertilizer production.
Jharkhand tops the list of coal reserves with an estimated reserve of 83,152 million tonnes. Jharia mines in Dhanbad district is one of the principal coal mines of the state. Magadh mines in Chatra district is expected to be Asia’s biggest coal mine by 2019-20.
With an estimated reserve of 79,295 million tonnes, Odisha is the second biggest coal reserve state. Major coal mines are in the Angul and Jharsuguda districts of the state.
Chhattisgarh comes in the third position in terms of coal reserves, with an estimated 57,206 million tonnes reserves. Korba coalfields are the major coalfield of the state.
estimated 675.40 million tonnes of coal was produced in India in the year 2017-18. In terms of coal production, the state of Odisha tops the list with 143.32 million tonnes. Chhattisgarh comes in second place with 142.54 million tonnes whereas Jharkhand comes in third place with 123.29 million tonnes.
Geological Resources of Coal as on 01.04.2018:
| S. No. | State | Total Coal Reserves (in million tonnes) |
| 1 | Jharkhand | 83,152 |
| 2 | Odisha | 79,295 |
| 3 | Chhattisgarh | 57,206 |
| 4 | West Bengal | 31,667 |
| 5 | Madhya Pradesh | 27,987 |
| 6 | Telangana | 21,702 |
| 7 | Maharashtra | 12,299 |
| 8 | Andhra Pradesh | 1,581 |
| 9 | Bihar | 1,367 |
| 10 | Uttar Pradesh | 1,062 |
| 11 | Meghalaya | 576 |
| 12 | Assam | 525 |
| 13 | Nagaland | 410 |
| 14 | Sikkim | 101 |
| 15 | Arunachal Pradesh | 90 |
| Total | 319,020 | |
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