| Bhāratīya Bhūvaijnyānik Sarvekṣhaṇ | |
 | |
 Headquarters at Kolkata | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 4 March 1851; 174 years ago (4 March 1851) |
| Type | Geological survey |
| Jurisdiction | Government of India |
| Headquarters | Kolkata |
| Annual budget | ₹8 billion (US$95 million) (2019–20)[1] |
| Parent agency | Ministry of Mines |
| Website | gsi.gov.in/ |
TheGeological Survey of India (GSI) is a scientific agency under the purview of theMinistry of Mines of theGovernment of India. Established in 1851, it was the second survey agency to be established inBritish India after theSurvey of India (founded in 1767). It conductsgeological survey to collect data and is the primary provider of geological information to various government departments, agencies, and public.
In the early 19th century, members of theSurvey of India carried out a few geological surveys.Henry Wesley Voysey of theGreat Trigonometrical Survey of India prepared a geological map of theHyderabad State in 1822. In 1836-37, a committee for 'The Investigation of Coal and Mineral Resources' was formed to study and explore the availability of coal in theeastern parts of India.[2][3] In 1845,John McClelland, who served as the secretary of the committee, suggested the appointment of trained geologists to the committee.David Hiram Williams of theBritish Geological Survey, was appointed as the first official surveyor of coal districts and superintendent of coal works in Bengal on 3 December 1845 and arrived in India in February 1846.[4] The name 'Geological Survey of India' was used for the first time on the 1847-48 report of the committee.[2][3][5] On 4 February 1848, Williams was appointed as the geological surveyor of the Geological Survey of India.[3][4] However, following his death on 15 November 1848,[6] John McClelland took over as the officiating surveyor and remained in chrge till 1 April 1850.[2][3]
The Geological Survey of India was officially established on 4 March 1851, andThomas Oldham, who was the professor of geology atTrinity College, took charge as the official surveyor on 5 March.[2][3] Seven more officers was appointed to the agency later that year.[2] During the initial years, the agency primarily remained focused on exploration for coal.[2][3] Later, based on a request by Oldham to theGovernor General of India, the survey commenced to map geological structures and rock types across the country.[2] In 1856, the headquarters of the agency was established atHastings, Calcutta and the Museum of Economic geology, which was set up within theAsiatic Society in 1841, came under the purview of the agency.[2][3] During the time, the age of rock strata was estimated from the presence ofindex fossils, which was time consuming to find, as the method ofradiometric dating for estimating the age of rock strata was not developed at that time.[4]
After the enactment of theGovernment of India Act 1858, the administration ofBritish India was taken over directly by theBritish Crown from theBritish East India Company and the Geological Survey of India became a department of the British Empire.[2] The agency extensively mapped India between 1857 and 1862 beginning with theBengal region.William Thomas Blanford published the first official map of theRaniganj Coalfield andFrederick Richard Mallet worked on mapping the presence of coal and copper in theDarjeeling region. Blanford later mapped the geology ofBihar andOdisha regions,Sylhet, andKhasi Hills of theBengal Presidency,Central Provinces, andNilgiris in theMadras Presidency.[2] In 1859,Thomas Henry Holland took up the geological investigation for the establishment ofrailways in theRaniganj region. The Bengal Iron Company was established based on the report ofHenry Benedict Medlicott on the presence ofiron ore in the region.[3] In 1868, the agency had a strength of 16 surveyors.[2] In 1869, Mallet mapped theRamgarh crater.[7][8]
Between 1867 and 1872, the Geological Survey of India started conducting surveys outside of India inBurma,Abyssinia,Persia, andAden.[2] The agency also carried out 1869Kailash–Mansarovar expedition, 1871-72Shigache–Lhasa expedition, 1873-74Yarkand–Kashgar expedition, and 1878-82Darjeeling–Lhasa–Mongolia expeditions.[9][10][11][12] During these expeditions, the British personnel were assisted by native Indian surveyors, calledpundits, with early ones includingNain Singh Rawat, andKrishna Singh Rawat.[3][13] Medlicott carried out the mapping ofCuddapah region, and Mallet mapped theVindhyas. The headquarters of the agency was moved to its present location on 1 January 1874 and the associated museum was opened in 1877. The first Geological Map of India was published in 1877.[2] Initially the agency did not have a publication of its own and the studies were published in other journals such as the Journal of Asiatic Society of Bengal and Madras Journal of Literature and Science. The first record of the Geological Survey of India was published in 1876.[3]
The Geological Survey of India started studyingearthquakes in the late 1860s, and publishes a report on the1869 Cachar earthquake.[3] In 1880,Pramatha Nath Bose became the first Indian to join the agency as a survey officer grade in 1880 and initiated the study of rocks using thepetrologicalmicroscope in the 1890s.[2][3] In 1885, the position of director was established, and Medlicott, who was the head of the agency, was the first to take over the position. In 1892, the agency started teaching activities, with Holland taking classes at thePresidency College in Calcutta. The survey identified and described various new rock types such ascharnockite,hypersthene-bearinggranite fromSt. Thomas Mount inMadras,khondalite from theEastern Ghats.[2]
In the late 1990s, the Geological Survey of India undertook further studies onseismology.Richard Dixon Oldham, who worked with the agency, was the first to clearly identifyp- and s-waves on aseismogram, and hypothesised and calculated the diameter of theEarth's core.[2][3] In 1905, the strength of the agency was raised to 25 geologists.[3] In the early 20th century, the agency was focused on geological research towards mining and mineral exploration, and a separate mining wing was established in 1902, which later led to the formation of the Department of Mines in 1904. In 1906, Holland established the Mining, Geological & Metallurgical Institute at Calcutta. It founddiamond deposits in theSinghbhum region in 1906. Discovery of iron ore by Bose atGorumahisani led to the establishment of India’s first steel plant atJamshedpur in 1911. Studies byLewis Leigh Fermor led to the discovery of large scalemanganese deposits led to India becoming a leading manganese producer globally.[2]
In 1907, the Geological Survey of India was involved in surveys in theHimalayas in collaboration with the Survey of India. The observations were later used for planning the1921 British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition.Darashaw Nosherwan Wadia, who joined the agency in 1921, created the geological maps of various Himalayan regions including theNanga Parbat,Vale of Kashmir, andGilgit. The agency discovered further deposits of iron ore in theBurnpur region in 1926.Cyril Fox discovered extensive coal deposits in the 1920s and 1930s includinglignite inNeyveli, andbauxite andlaterite deposits, which led to the formation of the Indian Aluminium Company in 1938.[2] In the late 1930s, the agency had a majority of Indian surveyors, with 17 of the 25 surveyors being Indians in 1939.[3] The Rare Mineral Survey Unit was founded in the early 1940s during theSecond World War, and later became part of theIndian Atomic Energy Commission in 1948. Surveys by the unit led to the discovery ofuranium deposits in India.[2]
In 1947, after thePartition of India, theGeological Survey of Pakistan took over the jurisdiction of the areas that became part of Pakistan,[14] withGeological Survey of Bangladesh split from the same in 1971.[15]William Dixon West, who was the director of the Geological Survey of India from 1945 to 1951, formulated a new five year plan for mapping of minerals and ground water in India. West and Wadia worked to promote various geo-scientific institutions.M.S. Krishnan became the first Indian director of the agency in 1951, and new divisions for drilling, engineering geology and ground water were created.[2]
In 1961, the position of the head of the Geological Survey of India was changed to director general, with B. C. Roy, the first to occupy the position. A new decentralised regional structure was created and dedicated divisions were established forgeophysics,marine geology, and airborne geophysical surveys were established. Further mineral discoveries of the agency led to the establishment of variouspublic sector units. In 1970, the Central Geological Programming Board was established to research on platetectonics. Coastal and offshore surveys began in 1983–84 with the induction of ocean-going and coastal research vessels.[2]
Starting in the early 1980s, the Geological Survey of India was involved in several research expeditions. It was part of a global expedition in exploring theIndian Ocean. The agency was involved in theIndian Antarctic Programme beginning with the country's first expedition toAntarctica in 1981. India later established permanent research stations–Dakshin Gangotri (1983–84),Maitri (1989), andBharati (2012) in the continent, which included staffs from the agency.[2]
On 8 April 2017, the Geological Survey of India began a pilot project with the first ever aerial survey of mineral stocks upto a depth of 20 km (12 mi).[16] In 2018, the agency was restructured into five divisions relating to baseline surveys, mineral resource assessments, geoinformatics, geosciences, and training and capacity building.[17] In 2025, the agency ordered for two dedicated coastal research vessels to be built byGarden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers.[18]
| Sr. No. | Name | Period | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Oldham | 1851–1876 | Superindent |
| 2 | Henry Benedict Medlicott | 1876–1885 | |
| 1885–1887 | Director[2] | ||
| 3 | William King | 1887–1894 | |
| 4 | Carl Ludolf Griesbach | 1894–1903 | |
| 5 | Thomas Henry Holland | 1903–1910 | |
| 6 | Henry Hubert Hayden | 1910–1921 | |
| 7 | Edwin Hall Pascoe | 1921–1932 | |
| 8 | Lewis Leigh Fermor | 1932–1935 | |
| 9 | Alexander Heron | 1935–1939 | |
| 10 | Cyril Sankey Fox | 1939–1943 | |
| 11 | Edward Leslie Gilbert Clegg | 1943–1944 | |
| 12 | Henry Crookshank | 1944–1945 | |
| 13 | J.A. Dunn | 1945 | |
| 14 | William Dixon West | 1945–1951 | |
| 15 | M. S. Krishnan | 1951–1955 | |
| 16 | V. P. Sondhi | 1955–1958 | |
| 17 | B. C. Roy | 1958–1961 | |
| 1961–1964 | Director General[2] | ||
| 49 | Ranjith Rath[19] | 2020–2021 | |
| 50 | R. S. Garkhal[19] | 2021–2022 | |
| 51 | S. Raju[20] | 2022–2023 | |
| 52 | Janardan Prasad[21] | 2023–2024 | |
| 53 | Asit Saha[22] | 2024– |
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