The Aravallis span roughly 692 kilometres, passing through Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat. In 2009, the Supreme Court imposed a complete ban on mining and quarrying in the Aravalli hills of Haryana’s Faridabad, Gurugram, and Nuh (Mewat) districts. Niti Aayog has identified Nuh, an area largely inhabited by Meo Muslims, as one of India’s most underdeveloped districts.
This 2-billion-year-old geological formation is India’s oldest mountain range, rich in sandstone, limestone, marble, granite, and minerals such as lead, zinc, copper, gold and tungsten.
Rajasthan produces about 70% of the country’s sandstone and faces a high rate of silicosis cases, especially in mining regions.
Since the 1990s, the Union government has imposed restrictions on mining and quarrying in these hills.
According to an expert panel from the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change, an Aravalli hill must rise at least 100 metres above the surrounding terrain, and a range is made up of hills, slopes, and hillocks located within 500 metres of each other. In November 2025, the Supreme Court of India upheld that definition.
In Rajasthan, government data shows that over 1,000 mining leases have been granted in the Aravallis. Environmentalists warn that if the Court’s newly approved definition of the hills remains, only 1,048 out of the 12,081 Aravalli hills in the state would meet the 100-metre elevation standard, leaving most of the range vulnerable to mining.
Environmentalists voiced concern over the order, warning that the lower ranges might lose their current environmental protection. They argued the new rule could pave the way for unchecked exploitation of the hills, which play a key role in regulating the region’s climate, replenishing groundwater, and acting as the “lungs” of the Delhi-NCR by blocking sand and hot winds from the Thar Desert. Following widespread protests, the Supreme Court put its November order on hold on December 29.
It also proposed forming a high-powered committee to examine whether “sustainable mining” or “regulated mining” in the newly marked Aravallis, despite regulatory oversight, could lead to any negative ecological impacts.