The total reserves of bauxite in India are estimated at about 2500 million tons. This is about one per cent of the world’s total reserves. The Indian reserves of bauxite are the fifth largest in the world after Guinea, Australia, Brazil and Vietnam. More than half of India’s bauxite reserves are in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh states.
Recently extensive deposits of bauxite have been discovered in the Jammu and Poonch areas of the Jammu and Kashmir state. The other states which have rich reserves of bauxite are Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Goa and Uttar Pradesh.
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Areas of Bauxite Production:
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About 90 per cent of bauxite in our country is of metallic grade. There has been a significant progress in the production of bauxite in India, which has increased from about 68,000 tons in 1950-51 to more than 90 lakh tones in 2004-05. Orissa has surpassed Jharkhand to become the leading producer of bauxite in India.
ii. Orissa:
Orissa not only has the largest reserves of bauxite, but also is the largest producer, contributing about 35 per cent of the total production in India. The main deposits
occur in Kalahandi, Korapur, Bolangir, Sundargarh and Sambalpur districts. The smelting plants have been developed at Damanjoli and Doragurha.
iii. Jharkhand-Bihar:
With limited reserves, Jharkhand is the second largest producer of bauxite in India. The important mining centres are in Ranchi, Palamu, Lohardaga, Gumla, Dumka and Munger districts. High grade ore is found in Lohardaga and adjoining areas. The smelting plants have been developed at Lohardaga and Muri.
iv. Gujarat:
Gujarat produces about 15 per cent of the total bauxite production in India. The main producing centres are located in Jamnagar, Junagarh, Kheda, Kachchh, Sabarkantha, Bhavnagar, Amreli, Kaira and Surat districts.
v. Maharashtra:
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Maharashtra produces about 12 per cent of the total production of bauxite in India. The largest deposits with high alumina contents (between 50 to 90 per cent) are found in the Kolhapur district. Other main producing districts are Ratnagiri, Thane, Satara, Pune and Kolaba.
vi. Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh:
These two states together produce about 10 per cent of the total production of bauxite in India. There are three important producing areas (i) the Amarkantak plateau, (ii) The Maikala range, and (iii) The Katni area of Jabalpur district. The Amarkantak area has the largest known deposits of bauxite in India.
vii. Tamil Nadu:
The bauxite deposits are mainly found in
(i) Kotagiri and Curzon valley areas in Nilgiri hills,
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(ii) the Palni and Koddaikanal hills in the Madurai district,
(iii) The Shevaroy hills in the Salem district, and
(iv) In Killaimalai hills. The total annual production is about three lac tons.
The other producing areas in India are in Andhra Pradesh (Vishakhapatnam, East Godavari and West Godavari districts); Kerala (Kannur, Kollam, and Thiruvananthapuram districts), Karnataka (Baba Budan hills, Dakshin Kannad and Belgaum districts), Jammu & Kashmir (Jammu, Poonch, Udhampur) and Goa.