 AMD started functioning from New Delhi on 10 August 1948 as ‘Rare Minerals Survey Unit'.Renamed first as ‘Raw Materials Division’ and then as ‘Atomic Minerals Division’ in 1958, it was shifted to Hyderabad in 1974.On 29 July 1998 it underwent the latest name change as 'Atomic Minerals Directorate for Exploration and Research' to assert its status as a premier geological exploration and research organisation.