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

Coal is the most abundantly available fossil fuel.

Importance of its different forms:

1. Peat: It comes from decaying plants in the swamp. It has low heating capacity because of low carbon and high moisture content.

2. Lignite: It’s a soft low-grade brown coal with high moisture content. Its principal reserve is in Neyveli, Tamil Nadu.

3. Bituminous: It is buried deep and subjected to high temperatures. High-grade bituminous is the metallurgical coal used especially in smelting iron.

4. Anthracite: It is the highest quality hard coal.

Explanation: Coal occurs in different forms and each has different uses and capacity depending on the degree of the compression of plant material.