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Prelims · Geography · 46 questions

Minerals, energy & industry

Every UPSC Prelims question on this topic, 2016–2026, newest first. Tap an option to check yourself; the answer and explanation open below it.

Minerals, energy & industry questions per year: 2016: 4, 2017: 0, 2018: 2, 2019: 1, 2020: 3, 2021: 0, 2022: 3, 2023: 6, 2024: 2, 2025: 6, 2026: 1 Asked in 9 of 11 years · most in 2025 (6)

UPSC syllabus: “Indian and World Geography-Physical, Social, Economic Geography of India and the World.” See the full syllabus →

Prelims 2022 · Q28

Medium

With reference to India, consider the following statements:

  1. 1.Monazite is a source of rare earths.
  2. 2.Monazite contains thorium.
  3. 3.Monazite occurs naturally in the entire Indian coastal sands in India.
  4. 4.In India, Government bodies only can process or export monazite.

Which of the statements given above are correct?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) 1, 2 and 4 only

Monazite is a phosphate mineral of the beach sands that carries both rare earth elements and thorium. Because of the thorium, it is a 'prescribed substance' under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962, so only government entities licensed by the Department of Atomic Energy handle it. It is concentrated on particular stretches of coast, not all of it.

  • ✓ 1. Monazite is one of the world's principal economic sources of rare earth elements, along with bastnasite and loparite.
  • ✓ 2. Monazite contains thorium; India's thorium comes mainly from monazite in the beach sands of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
  • ✗ 3. Monazite-bearing sands occur along particular stretches of the peninsular coast (notably Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Odisha), not along the entire Indian coastline.
  • ✓ 4. The Department of Atomic Energy has licensed no private entity to produce, process or export monazite; the public sector IREL (India) Limited handles it.

Remember · Monazite: beach-sand mineral with rare earths + thorium; 'prescribed substance' under the Atomic Energy Act, 1962; handled only by government entity IREL; richest deposits in Kerala.

📘 Read it in NCERT: Class 12 India: People and Economy, Ch 5 (practise this chapter)

Sources

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2022 · Q72

Hard

In India, what is the role of the Coal Controller’s Organization (CCO)?

  1. 1.CCO is the major source of Coal Statistics in Government of India.
  2. 2.It monitors progress of development of Captive Coal/Lignite blocks.
  3. 3.It hears any objection to the Government’s notification relating to acquisition of coal-bearing areas.
  4. 4.It ensures that coal mining companies deliver the coal to end users in the prescribed time.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

Answer & explanation

Answer: (a) 1, 2 and 3

The Coal Controller's Organisation is a subordinate office of the Ministry of Coal that collects coal statistics, monitors allocated coal blocks and hears objections under the coal-area acquisition law, but it does not police delivery of coal to consumers.

  • ✓ 1. It works under the Collection of Statistics Act and has a Statistics Section; its yearly Coal Directory of India and Provisional Coal Statistics are the standard government source for coal data.
  • ✓ 2. The CCO has a section that monitors allocated coal blocks, including captive coal and lignite blocks.
  • ✓ 3. The Coal Controller hears objections to the Central Government's notification for acquiring coal-bearing land under the Coal Bearing Areas (Acquisition and Development) Act, 1957, and reports to the Centre.
  • ✗ 4. Its listed duties cover grade and quality checks, mining and closure plans, opening permissions and statistics; ensuring that mining companies deliver coal to end users on time is not among them.

Remember · Coal Controller's Organisation: subordinate office of the Ministry of Coal; coal statistics, grade disputes, mining and closure plans, monitoring of coal blocks, and hearings under the 1957 coal-area acquisition Act.

Sources

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

Prelims 2022 · Q84

Medium

Consider the following statements:

  1. 1.Gujarat has the largest solar park in India.
  2. 2.Kerala has a fully solar powered International Airport.
  3. 3.Goa has the largest floating solar photovoltaic project in India.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Answer & explanation

Answer: (b) 2 only

Only statement 2 is correct: Cochin International Airport in Kerala was the world's first fully solar powered airport. In the exam year the largest solar park was Bhadla in Rajasthan, not a Gujarat park, and Goa did not host India's largest floating solar project.

  • ✗ 1. The Bhadla Solar Park in Rajasthan has a total capacity of 2,245 MW, which made it the largest operating solar park in India when this question was set.
  • ✓ 2. UNEP calls Cochin International Airport, in Kerala, the world's first solar powered airport.
  • ✗ 3. In the exam year (2022) India's largest floating solar project was NTPC's 100 MW plant at Ramagundam in Telangana, which the Ministry of Power announced as fully operational on 1 July 2022. It is not in Goa.
  • • Since then A Central Electricity Authority report of September 2025 shows Gujarat's planned solar-park capacity (12,150 MW, including the Khavda parks) now above Rajasthan's (11,355 MW). The answer for 2022 is unchanged.

Remember · Bhadla (Rajasthan, 2,245 MW) was India's largest operating solar park in 2022; Cochin Airport (Kerala) is the world's first fully solar powered airport.

Sources

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2022, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 1 Oct 2026 (how we verify). Permalink ·

The same topic in Mains

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