Which is known as the storehouse of Indian minerals?
- (a)Chhotanagpur plateau
- (b)Bundelkhand plateau
- (c)Malwa plateau
- (d)Baghelkhand plateau
Correct — A, the Chhotanagpur plateau. Spread mainly over Jharkhand and reaching into Odisha, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh, it is India's richest mineral belt — often called the 'storehouse' (or 'Ruhr') of Indian minerals. Its ancient Gondwana coal basins in the Damodar valley (Jharia, Bokaro, Karanpura) hold the bulk of the country's coal, and its Dharwar rocks yield iron ore, mica, bauxite, copper and more.
- (b)Bundelkhand plateau — A granite-gneiss upland of the UP-MP border known mainly for building stone and some minor minerals — not the country's mineral storehouse.
- (c)Malwa plateau — A Deccan-trap basaltic plateau of Madhya Pradesh prized for fertile black soil and farming, not for a concentration of metallic minerals.
- (d)Baghelkhand plateau — A central-Indian plateau with some coal and limestone, but nowhere near the mineral wealth of the Chhotanagpur belt.
The Chhotanagpur plateau sits on some of India's oldest rock systems. Its Gondwana coal-bearing basins along the Damodar river and its Dharwar metallic ores together give it an extraordinary concentration of coal, iron ore, mica, bauxite and copper — the reason it is called the storehouse of Indian minerals.
The other options are all real plateaus, but each is known for something else — Malwa for black-soil agriculture, Bundelkhand for granite, Baghelkhand for modest coal/limestone. Tie mineral wealth specifically to the Gondwana-and-Dharwar rocks of Chhotanagpur.
- Chhotanagpur plateau — chiefly in Jharkhand; India's richest mineral belt.
- Damodar valley coalfields (Jharia, Bokaro, Karanpura) hold much of India's coal.
- Also yields iron ore, mica, bauxite and copper.
- Underlain by ancient Gondwana (coal) and Dharwar (metallic) rock systems.
- Linking mineral wealth to the fertile black-soil Malwa/Deccan plateau
- Confusing granite-rich Bundelkhand with the metallic-and-coal Chhotanagpur belt
Asked as 'which region/plateau is the storehouse (or Ruhr) of Indian minerals' or via coalfield-and-mineral location questions — anchor the answer to the Chhotanagpur / Damodar valley belt.
Match List I (Minerals) with List II (Typical areas of Occurrence): I. Coal II. Gold III. Mica IV. Manganese; II. A) Bhandara B) Karanpura C) Hutti D) Nellore
- (a) I-A, II-C, III-B, IV-D
- (b) I-B, II-C, III-D, IV-A
- (c) I-C, II-D, III-B, IV-A
- (d) I-B, II-A, III-D, IV-C
Answer(b) I-B, II-C, III-D, IV-A — Coal-Karanpura, Gold-Hutti, Mica-Nellore, Manganese-Bhandara.
Same domain — India's mineral geography; the coal here (Karanpura coalfield) is itself part of the Chhotanagpur / Damodar belt that makes it the mineral storehouse.
Match List-I with List-II and select the correct answer using the codes given below the lists : List-I (Minerals): (i) Copper (ii) Diamond (iii) Slate (iv) Bauxite; List-II (Main area): 1. Mandsaur 2. Shahdol 3. Baihar 4. Hinota Codes :
- (a) (i)-2, (ii)-1, (iii)-4, (iv)-3
- (b) (i)-3, (ii)-4, (iii)-1, (iv)-2
- (c) (i)-4, (ii)-3, (iii)-2, (iv)-1
- (d) (i)-2, (ii)-4, (iii)-1, (iv)-3
Answer(b) (i)-3, (ii)-4, (iii)-1, (iv)-2
Same concept — mapping minerals to the regions that store them, the mineral-geography skill behind 'which region is the storehouse of Indian minerals'.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The Damodar Valley coalfields (Jharia, Bokaro, Karanpura) lie mainly in which plateau?
- (a)Malwa plateau
- (b)Chhotanagpur plateau
- (c)Deccan plateau
- (d)Bundelkhand plateau
Answer(b) Chhotanagpur plateau — India's main Gondwana coal belt.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The mineral wealth of the Chhotanagpur plateau is chiefly associated with which rock systems?
- (a)Deccan Trap basalts
- (b)Gondwana coal beds and Dharwar metallic ores
- (c)Recent alluvium
- (d)Tertiary Himalayan rocks
Answer(b) Gondwana (coal) and Dharwar (metallic ores) rock systems.