The Geological Survey of India (GSI) is a scientific agency under the purview of the Ministry of Mines of the Government of India. Established in 1851, it was the second survey agency to be established in British India after the Survey of India (founded in 1767). It conducts geological survey to collect data and is the primary provider of geological information to various government departments, agencies, and public.
History
Beginnings and establishment (1818-1857)
In the early 19th century, members of the Survey of India carried out a few geological surveys. Henry Wesley Voysey of the Great Trigonometrical Survey of India prepared a geological map of the Hyderabad 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 the eastern parts of India. 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 the British 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. The name 'Geological Survey of India' was used for the first time on the 1847-48 report of the committee. On 4 February 1848, Williams was appointed as the geological surveyor of the Geological Survey of India. John McClelland took over as the officiating surveyor and remained in chrge till 1 April 1850.
thumb| Members of the Geological Survey of India in 1870. From left to right, Standing: [[Ferdinand Stoliczka|F. Stoliczka, R. B. Foote, W. Theobald, F. R. Mallet, V. Ball, W. H. Waagen, W. L. Willson; Sitting: A. Tween, W. King, T. Oldham, H. B. Medlicott, and C. A. Hackett.]]
Between 1867 and 1872, the Geological Survey of India started conducting surveys outside of India in Burma, Abyssinia, Persia, and Aden. During these expeditions, the British personnel were assisted by native Indian surveyors, called pundits, with early ones including Nain Singh Rawat, and Krishna Singh Rawat. Medlicott carried out the mapping of Cuddapah region, and Mallet mapped the Vindhyas. 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. with Geological Survey of Bangladesh split from the same in 1971. 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. In 2018, the agency was restructured into five divisions relating to baseline surveys, mineral resource assessments, geoinformatics, geosciences, and training and capacity building. In 2025, the agency ordered for two dedicated coastal research vessels to be built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers.
List of heads
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Sr. No.
!Name
!Period
!Position
|-
|1||Thomas Oldham||1851–1876||rowspan=2|Superindent
|-
|rowspan="2"|2||rowspan="2"|Henry Benedict Medlicott||1876–1885
|-
||1885–1887||rowspan="16"|Director||2020–2021
|-
|50||R. S. Garkhal||2022–2023
|-
|52||Janardan Prasad||2023–2024
|-
|53||Asit Saha||2024–
|}