RAS question
Mangala oil field is in which district?
Correct answer: (D) Barmer.
Mangala oil field is located in Barmer district of Rajasthan.
Explanation
Mangala oil field belongs to Barmer district. The Rajasthan State Finance Commission report discusses petroleum activity in the Barmer-Sanchore Basin, records crude-oil production from Mangla Oil Field, and places Mangala oil field in Barmer district under the Barmer refinery section. The field is operated by Cairn India, now Vedanta, and is treated as India's largest post-independence onshore oil discovery. In RAS geography, district-wise location is the key point: Mangala is not a general western-Rajasthan oil-field label but a specific Barmer district oil field tied to Rajasthan's petroleum belt.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Bikaner is wrong because it has no major oil fields, while Mangala is in Barmer district.
- (B) Jodhpur is wrong because it has no oil fields, while Mangala belongs to Barmer district.
- (C) Jaisalmer is wrong because it is associated with natural gas, whereas Mangala oil field is specifically located in Barmer district.
Concept
This tests Rajasthan's economic geography, especially the district-wise location of mineral and petroleum resources. It recurs in RAS because oil, gas and refinery-linked development are standard map-based facts for western Rajasthan.