SSC CGL 2025 Tier-II · Paper-I, 19 January 2026 · General Awareness · Question 17 of 150

We transcribed this text from the pictures of a candidate's response sheet for this paper; the answer is the key SSC marked with a green tick on that sheet. Solution last reviewed 11 September 2026.

Where this paper and its answers come from

SSC does not publish CGL question papers or a public answer key. This paper reaches us as a candidate's response sheet saved as pictures, so we transcribed the text from those pictures, and a second reader checked every question against them; where the layout carries meaning, we show the picture too. Each answer is the key SSC marked with a green tick 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. UnlockIAS wrote the solutions.

We doubt SSC's key on this question.

IBM's state-wise mica table (Indian Minerals Yearbook 2021) lists only Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan, because IBM could collect figures from only a few states once mica became a minor mineral in 2015, and it puts Rajasthan first in 2020-21, so option (c) is also defensible; this card follows SSC's key, Bauxite – Odisha.

The answer below is still the option SSC's key marks, and we solve to that option.

Which of the following pairs of minerals and its leading producing state in India is correctly matched?

(a)Bauxite – Odisha
(b)Copper – Uttar Pradesh
(c)Mica – Rajasthan
(d)Limestone – Jharkhand

Answer

Why

Correct — A. The Indian Bureau of Mines' Indian Minerals Yearbook 2023 puts bauxite output at 23.84 million tonnes in 2022-23, with Odisha contributing 73%, followed by Jharkhand (9%) and Gujarat (7%).

NCERT's Class 10 geography text also names Odisha the largest bauxite-producing state, with the Panchpatmali deposits of Koraput the most important.

Why the others are wrong

(b)
Copper – Uttar Pradesh — Uttar Pradesh does not figure. The yearbook splits India's 2022-23 copper concentrate output between Madhya Pradesh (57%) and Rajasthan (43%). NCERT's copper centres are Balaghat, Khetri and Singhbhum.
(c)
Mica – Rajasthan — On NCERT's account the leading mica producer is the Koderma–Gaya–Hazaribagh belt of Jharkhand, with Ajmer in Rajasthan a major area. IBM's partial table puts Rajasthan first in 2020-21, so this pair is arguable; Bauxite – Odisha is not.
(d)
Limestone – Jharkhand — The yearbook makes Rajasthan the leading limestone producer in 2022-23 with 23%, ahead of Andhra Pradesh (13%) and Madhya Pradesh (12%). Jharkhand sits in the remaining 12% shared by ten states.

Concept

A mineral–state pair is right only if that state tops the mineral's production table.

For current figures, the source is the Indian Bureau of Mines' Indian Minerals Yearbook, which gives state-wise shares. NCERT's Class 10 chapter Minerals and Energy Resources gives the textbook picture.

The limestone pair fails on the yearbook: Rajasthan leads. The mica pair turns on the source, since NCERT puts Jharkhand first and IBM's partial figures put Rajasthan first.

Mica output is thinly recorded. After mica became a minor mineral in 2015, producers reported to the states, not to IBM.

So the Indian Minerals Yearbook 2021 prints figures for only Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan: 16,717 t and 17,719 t in 2020-21. Jharkhand is not in the table at all.

Bauxite has no such gap. Odisha's 73% share makes (a) the safe pick.

Key facts

Odisha produced 73% of India's bauxite in 2022-23 (IBM, Indian Minerals Yearbook 2023).
Madhya Pradesh (57%) and Rajasthan (43%) produced India's copper concentrates in 2022-23.
Rajasthan led limestone production in 2022-23 with 23% of the national output.
Mica rankings differ by source: NCERT names Jharkhand's Koderma–Gaya–Hazaribagh belt, while IBM's 2020-21 table puts Rajasthan (17,719 t) ahead of Andhra Pradesh (16,717 t).

Study next

Iron ore belts: Odisha–Jharkhand and Durg–Bastar–ChandrapurChromite and iron ore, where Odisha also leads productionCopper mines at Khetri, Malanjkhand and Singhbhum

Common traps

Choosing Mica – Rajasthan over Bauxite – Odisha, when the mica ranking depends on the source and Odisha's bauxite lead does not.
Pairing limestone with Jharkhand, which the 2022-23 table places among the small producers far behind Rajasthan.

Here four production tables are tested at once through state pairs. Copper returns at 14 Sep 2025, 12:30, GA Q.13, which asks which non-ferrous minerals are scarce in India (copper, zinc and lead).

Related PYQs

No directly related past PYQ was found.

Topic: Geography — all 137 SSC CGL questions on it, every solved shift.