NDA (I) 2025 GAT Q97: Which one among the following is NOT a major oil field

Q: What is the answer to NDA (I) 2025 GAT Q97?

D. Correct — D, Moran. Ankleshwar, Kosamba and Mehsana are all oil fields of Gujarat, part of the state's Cambay (Khambhat) basin oil belt. Moran, however, is an oil field of Upper Assam — in the Brahmaputra-valley belt alongside Digboi and Naharkatiya — so it is the one NOT located in Gujarat. (Provisional — pending the official UPSC key.)

NDA (I) 2025 General Ability Test · Question 97 of 150

Question text verified against the official NDA question paper.

Provisional answers. UPSC has not yet released the official NDA 2025 answer key (it is published several months after the exam). The answers here are our best-supported answers — derived from careful subject-solving and cross-checked against independent solved papers and primary sources — and will be reconciled to the official key as soon as UPSC publishes it. They are not the official UPSC answer key.

Which one among the following is NOT a major oil field located in Gujarat?

(a)Ankaleshwar
(b)Kosamba
(c)Mehsana
(d)Moran

Answer

Why

Correct — D, Moran. Ankleshwar, Kosamba and Mehsana are all oil fields of Gujarat, part of the state's Cambay (Khambhat) basin oil belt. Moran, however, is an oil field of Upper Assam — in the Brahmaputra-valley belt alongside Digboi and Naharkatiya — so it is the one NOT located in Gujarat.

Why the others are wrong

(a)Ankaleshwar — Ankleshwar is Gujarat's best-known oil field, in the Cambay basin, so it is not the odd one out.
(b)Kosamba — Kosamba is an oil field in the Gujarat (Cambay basin) belt, so it does lie in Gujarat.
(c)Mehsana — Mehsana is an oil-producing field in north Gujarat, so it too is a Gujarat field.

Concept

India's onshore oil fields cluster in two main regions: the Cambay (Khambhat) basin of Gujarat and the Brahmaputra-valley belt of Upper Assam. Gujarat's fields include Ankleshwar, Kalol, Mehsana, Kosamba and Nawagam, while Assam's include Digboi, Naharkatiya, Moran and Hugrijan.

The list mixes Gujarat fields with one Assam field. Three names belong to Gujarat's Cambay belt; Moran breaks the set because it sits in Upper Assam. Knowing the two onshore clusters — Gujarat and Assam — lets you spot the intruder quickly.

Key facts

Ankleshwar, Kosamba and Mehsana are oil fields of the Gujarat (Cambay) basin.
Moran is an oil field of Upper Assam, near Digboi and Naharkatiya.
India's onshore oil is concentrated in the Gujarat and Assam belts.
Bombay High (Mumbai High) is the country's largest field, lying offshore in the Arabian Sea.

Oil field — which state?

Ankleshwar→Gujarat (Cambay basin)

Kosamba→Gujarat (Cambay basin)

Mehsana→Gujarat (north Gujarat)

Moran→Upper Assam — NOT Gujarat

Moran belongs to the Assam oil belt, making it the exception.

Study next

Onshore and offshore oil fields of IndiaThe Cambay (Khambhat) basin of GujaratThe Assam oil belt — Digboi, Naharkatiya, MoranBombay High and offshore petroleum in the Arabian SeaPetroleum refineries and their distribution in India

Common traps

Assam and Gujarat are the two big onshore oil belts — keep their field names apart.
Digboi, Naharkatiya and Moran are Assam fields, not Gujarat ones.

Oil fields are tested as an odd-one-out item, hiding one Assam field among Gujarat's Cambay-basin fields.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Practice

practice — not a real PYQ
Digboi, one of India's oldest oil fields, is located in which state?
- (a)Gujarat
- (b)Assam
- (c)Rajasthan
- (d)Maharashtra
Answer(b) Assam — Digboi in Upper Assam is among the earliest oil fields in India.
practice — not a real PYQ
Bombay High, India's largest oil field, lies
- (a)onshore in Gujarat
- (b)onshore in Assam
- (c)offshore in the Arabian Sea
- (d)offshore in the Bay of Bengal
Answer(c) offshore in the Arabian Sea — Bombay (Mumbai) High is an offshore field off the Maharashtra coast.