Abstract Four Archaean cratons (Aravalli–Bundelkhand, Singhbhum, Bastar and Dharwar), together with the marginal Proterozoic mobile belts and sedimentary basins, constitute the geology of peninsular India. Huge resources of ferrous metals (Fe and Mn) and chromite, the lone granitoid-hosted Malanjkhand Cu–Mo deposit, a moderate occurrence of gold and promising platinum group element mineralization constitute the Archaean metal inventory of India. Additionally, the Proterozoic Aeon witnessed diverse mineralization in the mobile belts and craton–mobile belt contacts. These include vast resources of base metals in the northwestern Indian Shield and Mn in the central Indian block, apart from considerable U–Cu deposits in the Singhbhum Shear Zone. These ores formed as a consequence of an entire genetic spectrum, covering various orthomagmatic, volcanosedimentary and diverse hydrothermal processes, aided and abetted by supergene enrichment, as in the case of iron ores.