December 02, 2008
Indian coal reserves up by 4 billion tonnes
Dr Dasari Narayana Rao union minister of state for coal informed the parliament that the exploration activity has established additional resources during 10th Plan period in several coalfields including Orissa and West Bengal. Dr Rao said that during the January 2006 to March 2007 period, 4.080 billion tonnes of new coal resources have been estimated in India.
Geological resource of coal in India, prepared by Geological Survey of India, has increased by 4.080 billion tonnes as indicated below:
| Data of Estimation | January '06 | April '07 | Addition |
| Total estimated coal | 253.301 | 257.381 | 4.080 |
Dr Rao further informed that out of the total addition of coal resources mentioned above 520 million tonnes have been estimated in the state of West Bengal and 1234 million tonnes in the state of Orissa. The state wise and coalfield wise details of estimation of additional coal resources in blocks where exploration has been concluded during the period from January 2006 to March 2007 are given as under
| State | Coalfield | Estimates |
| West Bengal | Raniganj | 520 |
| Jharkhand | Ramgarh | 79 |
| Jharkhand | West Bokaro | 186 |
| Jharkhand | North Karnpura | 229 |
| Madhya Pradesh | Singaralui | 588 |
| Chhattisgarh | Hasdo-Arand | 8 |
| Maharashtra | Wardha Valley | 173 |
| Maharashtra | Kamptee | 55 |
| Maharashtra | Nand Bander | 366 |
| Orissa | Talchar | 1234 |
| Andhra Pradesh | Godavari Valley | 569 |
| Sikkim | Rangit Valley | 73 |
| Total | 4080 | |
Dr Rao added that based on the potential of the blocks revealed from regional exploration data the detailed exploration is under process in different blocks areas.
