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Historical Perspective

Dr D N Wadia

Dr. D. N. Wadia
Geological Advisor
(13-10-1950 to 15-06-1969)

Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research (AMD) is the oldest unit of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). Under the Atomic Energy Act, passed by the Govt. of India on April 15, 1948 and following creation of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) on August 10, 1948, AMD was created on July 29, 1949 as ‘Rare Minerals Survey Unit’ with headquarter in New Delhi. It was renamed first as ‘Raw Materials Division’ and then as ‘Atomic Minerals Division’ in 1958. Its headquarter was later shifted to Hyderabad in 1974. In keeping with its growing stature as one of the country’s leading scientific organizations involved in multi-disciplinary and multi-faceted exploration-cum-analytical-cum research activities, the ‘Division’ was rechristened as a ‘Directorate’ on July 29, 1998 on the eve of its stepping into the ‘Golden Jubilee’ Year.

AMD commenced its operations on October 3, 1950 with a nucleus of 17 geoscientists which has grown to 1808 personnel (in all categories) as on 01.02.2024. The principal mandate of the unit was to carry out geological exploration and discover mineral deposits required for Atomic Energy power programme of the country. Professor D.N. Wadia, “Padma Bhusan“ awardee (1958), FRS, a doyen among Indian geologists guided the exploration programme of the Directorate till 1970 as Geological Advisor of the Department. The unit saw Dr. P.K. Ghosh as its first Director appointed in 1957.

With the shifting of Headquarters from Delhi to Hyderabad in 1974, activities of the Directorate were spread out by opening new Regional center at Shillong (North Eastern Region), Hyderabad (South Central Region) and Jaipur (Western Region) in addition to the four already existing center at New Delhi (Northern Region), Benguluru (Southern Region), Kolkata/ Jamshedpur (Eastern Region) and Nagpur (Central Region), and equipping various laboratories at headquarters with the state of the art instruments. Directors who have successfully steered the Directorate to its present glory are as follows

Our Leaders (Former Directors)

Dr. P. K. Ghosh
Dr. P. K. Ghosh
Duration 1957–1960
Shri K.K.Dar
Shri K.K.Dar
Duration 1970–1974
Dr. G.R. Udas
Dr. G.R. Udas
Duration 1974–1981
Shri A.V. Phadke
Shri A.V. Phadke
Duration 1981–1985

Shri T.M. Mahadevan
Shri T.M. Mahadevan
Duration 1985–1987

Shri A.C. S
Shri A.C. Saraswat
Duration 1987–1990

Shri Ravi Kaul
Shri Ravi Kaul
Duration 1990–1992

Dr. S.Viswanathan
Dr. S.Viswanathan
Duration 1992–1993

Dr. K.K. Dwivedy
Dr. K.K. Dwivedy
Duration 1993–1998

Shri D.C. Banerjee
Shri D.C. Banerjee
Duration 1998–2001

Shri R.K. Gupta
Shri R.K. Gupta
Duration 2001–2003

Shri R.M. Sinha
Shri R.M. Sinha
Duration 2003–2006

Dr. Anjan Chaki
Dr. Anjan Chaki
Duration 2006–2010

Shri P.B. Maithani
Shri P.B. Maithani
Duration 2010–2011

Shri P.S. Parihar
Shri P.S. Parihar
Duration 2011–2015

Dr. A.K. Rai
Dr. A.K. Rai
Duration Jan 2016–Nov 2016

Shri L.K.Nanda
Shri L.K.Nanda
Duration Dec 2016–Apr 2018

Shri M.B. Verma
Shri M.B. Verma
Duration May 2018–Dec 2019

Dr. D. K. Sinha
Dr. D. K. Sinha
Duration Jan 2020–Nov 2022

B.Saravanan
B.Saravanan
Duration Dec 2022–Apr 2024
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