Pench Kanhan Coalfield is located in

Chhindwara District Chhindwara district () is a List of districts of Madhya Pradesh, district of Madhya Pradesh state in India, and Chhindwara town is the district headquarters. Chhindwara was the largest district in Madhya Pradesh with an area of 10,293 square k ...

in the

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state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

History

In 1845, the earliest systematic exploration of India’s coal resources was initiated by D.H.Williams, Geological Surveyor of the East India Company. In 1924, Dr. Cyril Fox surveyed once again certain coal-bearing areas, including the Pench, Kanhan and Tawa Valleys. The collieries in Pench Kanhan Coalfield were owned by several companies and owners such as Amalgamated Coalfields Limited, Pench Valley Coal Company, N.H.Ojha & Co., J.A.Trivedi Brothers, Newton Chikli Collieries (Private) Ltd., S.C.Kambata (Pvt) Ltd., Oriental Coal Co. Ltd., Sial Ghogri Group and The Jamai Majri Coal Co. Ltd. These were nationalized in 1973.

The coalfield

Satpura Coalfields are located in northern

Chhindwara Chhindwara is a major city in India and a Municipal Corporation in the Chhindwara district in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. The city is the administrative headquarters of Chhindwara District. Chhindwara is reachable by rail or road fro ...

and

Betul District Betul district () is a district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. The city of Betul serves as its administrative headquarters. The district is a part of Narmadapuram Division. History of Betul traces its origin to Satyug according to Sk ...

s, south of the

Narmada The Narmada River, previously also known as ''Narbada'' or anglicised as ''Nerbudda'', is the 5th longest river in India and overall the longest west-flowing river in the country. It is also the largest flowing river in the state of Madhya Prade ...

. Three rivers flow through the area - Pench, Kanhan and Tawa. There are four coalfields in these valleys – Pench Kanhan Valley Coalfield, Mohpani Coalfield, Tawa Valley Coalfield and Pathakhera Coalfield. Outside the Damodar Valley, Satpura Gondwana Basin is the only area where coking coal is found in India.Shri Kamal Sharma, Spatial Framework and Economic Development, Northern Book Centre, 4221/1 Daryaganj, Ansari Road, New Delhi 110 002, 2000, p. 159, The Pench Kanhan Valley Coalfield is situated to the northwest of

. While Pench Valley has five seams in a column of 50-80 m thickness, the coal belt in the Kanhan valley stretches for about . In the Pench valley, except for seam no I, the other seams occur in patches. Important collieries in the Pench valley are: Newton, Chikli, Borkuhi, Ramanwara, Eklahera, Bamori, North Chandameta, Chandameta, East Dongar Chikli, Ambara Sukri, Datla and Shivpuri. Important coalfields in the Kanhan valley are: Rakhikhol, Danwa, Kalichappar and Nandan. There is a virgin area to the north. According to the

Geological Survey of India The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is a scientific agency of India. It was founded in 1851, as a Government of India organization under the Ministry of Mines, one of the oldest of such organisations in the world and the second oldest survey ...

, total reserves of coal (including proven, indicated and inferred) in the Pench Kanhan Coalfield is 2,411.28 million tonnes. Out this 657.39 million tonnes is medium coking coal, of which 347.06 million tonnes is available up to a depth of 300 m and another 310.33 million tonnes between 300 and 600 m. Total reserves of non-coking coal in the field is 1,753.89 million tonnes, of which 1,254.83 million tonnes is available up to a depth of 300 m, and another 499.06 million tonnes between 300 and 600 m.

References

{{Godavari basin Coalfields of India Energy in Madhya Pradesh Chhindwara district Mining in Madhya Pradesh