Question

Which is the most abundantly available fossil fuel in India? Assess the importance of its different forms.

Answer 1

Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel in India and is found in four different forms.
Importance of each form is as follows:
i. Lignite: It is brown, low grade quality of coal. It is used in the generation of electricity.
ii. Bituminous Coal: This is a slightly higher quality of coal and is the most commercially used form of coal.
iii. Metallurgical Coal: It is a higher grade of bituminous coal which is generally used for smelting iron in the blast furnaces.
iv. Anthracite Coal: It is the highest quality hard coal. It is used as domestic fuel in hand fired stoves or in automatic stoker furnaces.