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 :

Question

UnlockIAS · Accepted Answer

Correct — B, (i)-3, (ii)-4, (iii)-1, (iv)-2. Copper–Baihar: Balaghat district is India's copper heartland, and the Malanjkhand deposit in the Baihar belt of Balaghat — worked by Hindustan Copper Ltd — is the country's largest copper ore body. Diamond–Hinota: Panna district's diamonds come out of kimberlite pipes, and the Majhgawan–Hinota pipe is the diamond-bearing body of that belt, India's only organised diamond-mining area. Slate–Mandsaur: Mandsaur, in western Madhya Pradesh, is the district associated with the state's slate deposits. Bauxite–Shahdol: Shahdol, on the Amarkantak plateau, is one of MP's principal lateritic bauxite districts, alongside Anuppur, Katni and Mandla.

Why the other options are wrong — (a) All four pairs fail. It sends copper to Shahdol (a bauxite district) and bauxite to Baihar (the copper belt) — a straight inversion of the two easiest pairs — and additionally places diamond at Mandsaur and slate at Hinota.  (c) It puts diamond at Baihar (Balaghat) — precisely the error UPSC itself planted in 2007 with 'Balaghat is known for its diamond mines' — and copper at Hinota, which is the Panna diamond locality. Slate and bauxite are misplaced too.  (d) The near-miss that draws the most marks. Diamond–Hinota and slate–Mandsaur are right, but copper and bauxite are swapped: copper is given to Shahdol and bauxite to Baihar. One pair of districts separates this from the key.

Concept: Madhya Pradesh's mineral map rests on a few distinct geological settings, and once you attach the deposit type to the district the matching becomes automatic. Malanjkhand in Balaghat is a granitoid-hosted copper deposit — India's largest — and the reason MP figures at the very top of the country's copper-ore output. Panna's diamonds sit in kimberlite pipes (Majhgawan–Hinota), the only organised diamond mining in India. Bauxite in MP is lateritic and clusters on the Amarkantak plateau across Shahdol, Anuppur, Katni and Mandla. Slate is a western-MP occurrence, associated with Mandsaur.

State PCS 2025 Q59 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer

State PCS 2025 Q59 — Madhya Pradesh GK PYQ with Answer