RAS question
The Jharia coalfield, one of India's richest, is located in:
Correct answer: (C) Jharkhand.
The Jharia coalfield is located in Jharkhand.
Explanation
Jharia is asked as a location question, and the state marker is Jharkhand. Jharia coalfield is in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand and is India's premier coking-coal deposit. Bharat Coking Coal Limited describes Jharia Coalfield as a large coalfield situated in Dhanbad and Bokaro districts, Jharkhand, and links it with prime coking coal and metallurgical coal. That is why the correct option is Jharkhand, not another coal-bearing state. The other options point to different coalfields: Korba in Chhattisgarh, Raniganj in West Bengal, and Talcher in Odisha.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Chhattisgarh is associated here with Korba coalfield, whereas the question asks for Jharia, which is in Jharkhand.
- (B) West Bengal fits Raniganj coalfield in this option set, not Jharia coalfield.
- (D) Odisha is linked here with Talcher coalfield, while Jharia is identified with Jharkhand.
Concept
This tests the Indian geography mapping of major coalfields to their states. RAS repeats such mineral-location questions because coalfield names, states and resource types are core facts in economic geography.