SSC CGL 2025 Tier-I · 17 September 2025, Shift 2 · General Awareness · Question 14 of 99

We transcribed this text from the pictures on a candidate's response sheet for this shift; the answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 13 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. From 2025 the candidate response sheet prints every question and option as a picture, so the text here is transcribed from those pictures for this shift and checked against them independently; where the layout carries meaning, the picture is shown as well. Each answer is the key SSC colour-marked on that sheet. SSC released a tentative key for challenge and later its final one, both only to candidates behind a login, and the sheet does not say which of the two it carries. The solutions are written by UnlockIAS.

Which state among the following is a major contributor to India’s iron ore reserves?

(a)Maharashtra
(b)Andhra Pradesh
(c)Karnataka
(d)Tamil Nadu

Answer

Why

Correct — C. Karnataka is the state among these four that ranks high in both kinds of iron ore.

The Indian Bureau of Mines (Indian Minerals Yearbook 2021, resources as on 1.4.2020) puts its haematite at 2,835 million tonnes, about 12% of India's, fourth after Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

In magnetite Karnataka leads India with 7,802 million tonnes, 69.5% of the total. That is option (c).

Why the others are wrong

(a)
Maharashtra — Maharashtra is a minor holder of iron ore, outside the leading states in both haematite and magnetite. Karnataka holds 2,835 million tonnes of haematite and 7,802 million tonnes of magnetite.
(b)
Andhra Pradesh — Andhra Pradesh does hold real magnetite, 1,472 million tonnes (13.1%), second in India. But that is under a fifth of Karnataka's 7,802 million tonnes.
(d)
Tamil Nadu — Tamil Nadu holds about 528 million tonnes of magnetite, 4.7% of India's, per IBM. That is roughly a fifteenth of Karnataka's 7,802 million tonnes.

Concept

Indian iron ore comes in two main forms. Haematite (Fe₂O₃), the higher-grade ore, is concentrated in Odisha, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, with Karnataka and Goa next.

Magnetite (Fe₃O₄) lies mostly in the southern states, and Karnataka alone holds about 70% of it.

Ballari district and the Kudremukh mines are the best-known names in Karnataka's iron ore.

IBM's figures are total reserves/resources under the UNFC system, as on 1.4.2020. The stem's 'reserves' is the everyday sense, and Karnataka stands out on haematite and magnetite alike.

Key facts

IBM, Indian Minerals Yearbook 2021: Karnataka holds 2,835 million tonnes of haematite, about 12% of India's, as on 1.4.2020.
Karnataka holds 7,802 million tonnes of magnetite, 69.5% of India's, followed by Andhra Pradesh at 1,472 million tonnes (13.1%).
Odisha leads in haematite with 9,409 million tonnes (39%), ahead of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.

Study next

NCERT's iron ore belts, including Ballari–Chitradurga–Chikkamagaluru–Tumakuru in KarnatakaHaematite and magnetite: iron content, grade and where each occursState rankings in iron ore production against rankings in reserves

Common traps

Picking Andhra Pradesh because it is second in magnetite, when its share is under a fifth of Karnataka's.
Reading 'major contributor' as 'largest in India' and hunting for Odisha, which is not among the options.

Here the state is asked by its reserves, with southern and western neighbours as distractors.

Iron ore geography also appears at 15 Sep 2025, 09:00, GA Q.14 (keyed Singhbhum – Jharkhand) and 18 Sep 2025, 09:00, GA Q.16, where the Kudremukh mines in Karnataka are keyed to iron ore.

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Geography — all 179 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.