The concentrations of 20 elements in two suites of coal samples from India were determined by RABBIT neutron activation analysis (NAA) and x-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF). Sulphur was determined by Leco and ash was determined in the lab at approximately 550°C. One group of samples was collected from feed coals at 11 power plants representing approximately 15% of all the coal burned in India: Korba, Madhya Pradesh (6 plants); Talcher, Orissa (1); Neyveli, Tamil Nadu (2); and Delhi (2). Effective coal concentration (ECC) is defined here as the total amount of a given element mobilized yearly due to coal utilization. For the above plants the ECC are (metric tons/year): ash (7.896 × 106), Al (1.031 × 106), Ba (3,768), Ca (1.03 × 105), Cl (2,229), Co (72), Cr (580), Dy (148), l (108), ln (1), Mg (4.02 × 105), Mn (1.921), Na (6,834), Ni (317), Rb (325, only 10 plants included), S (2.06 × 105), Si(2.017 × 106), Sr(l,325), Ti(77,340), V(1,128), andZn (642). A second set of channel samples was collected from India's largest lignite mine in Neyveli, Tamil Nadu. Depth versus concentration plots, correlation with ash, and correlation with each other are used to describe the vertical distribution of the elements. Of those elements exhibiting high correlation with ash (figures in parentheses are correlation with ash), only Si (0.94) is concentrated at both the top and bottom margins of the seam. Chromium (0.94), V (0.89), Al (0.83), Ti (0.82), Mg (0.82). Mn (0.80), Ba (0.76), and In (0.63) are more concentrated at the bottom of the seam relative to the top. Indium is also enriched in one of the middle samples. Iodine (−0.95), Cl ( − 0.84), and S ( − 0.50) show significant negative correlation with ash and are concentrated in the middle of the seam relative to the margins. Iodine and Cl elements do not correlate well with ash and exhibit only weak trends going from top to bottom. Sodium and Sr resemble Ca, as shown in Figure 4(a). They are lower in the top of the seam and generally increase in concentration with depth. The opposite is true for Zr and Ni, whose profiles are similar to that of Co in Figure 4(b). The general trends with sharp fluctuations may represent changes in water chemistry and/or Eh and pH during peat accumulation. This may have resulted in precipitation of finely disseminated mineral grains periodically as the peat accumulated. The facts that the chalcophile elements Co, Ni, and Zn along with S are enriched in the upper half of the profile and the lithophile elements Na, Sr, and Ca are more prominent at the bottom also suggests a change in depositional environment over time.