Mineral wealth of India is unevenly distributed. It is in the following 5 major and 4 minor belts:

(1) Chhota Nagpur Plateau (store house of minerals).

The region falls in the states of Jharkhand, West Bengal and Orissa. The region is composed of ancient gneisses and granite.

The region is highly mineralized. It has 93% Iron ore, 85% coal, 70% chromite, 70% mica, 45% china clay and 10% manganese of India.

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Maharashtra:

Bhandra, Ratnagiri, Kohlapur, Chandrapur.

Karnataka:

Raichur Ballery, Shimoga, Chikmaglur, Durg.

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Rajasthan:

Udaipur, Jaipur, Bhilwara, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Dungarpur, Kota.

Gujarat:

Junagarh, Jamnagar, Panchmakals, Bharuch, Vadodra.

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Kerala:

Quilon, Ernakulam, Iddiki, Malapuram, Kannur,

(1) Jharkhand is the leading state in this region having rich resources of a variety of minerals.

In this state Hazaribagh, Singhbhum, Dhanbad, Ranchi, Palamau and Sangthal Paragana are the most mineralised districts.

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(ii) Bihar: Munghyr

(iii) Orissa: Samalpur, ICoraput, ICeonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Sundergarh.

(iv) W Bengal : Raniganj.

(2) Central India. From Maharashtra, M.P, Chhattisgarh to A.P this belt has rich reserves of manganese. This belt is rich in coal, bauxite, mica, limestone etc.

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(3) karnatakaTamil Nadu Region.

This belt is rich in gold, iron ore, copper, managanese, mica, lignite, limestone.

(4) Rajasthan-Gujarat Region.

Another area, rich in a dozen of minerals like copper, lead, zinc, lignite, gypsum, silver, uranium, marble, mica and other minerals.

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(5) Himalayan Region.

This region is rich in copper, zinc, nickle, cobalt, tungsten, coal, oil, gas, limestone, slate, dolomite etc.

(6) North-East States.

According to value of minerals (1) Jharkhand state leads 24% (2) M.E and Chhattisgarh 12%, (3) W Bengal 8%, (4) Assam 10%, (5) Gujarat 10% (6) Orissa and A.E 5% each (7) Rajasthan 4%