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History of Bokaro

Though the history of the city is not very intriguing, but it sees a steady transformation from a remote place to an industrial hub. In the deep jungles of Chhota Nagpur, there was a village named Maraphari, near present day Chas. Purulia was the closest town which was then ruled by Maharaja of Kashipur. According to some folklore, the area was under the Mughal rule by the conquests of Man Singh, a General of Mughal Army and relative of the Mughal Emperor, Akbar. The region was named Manbhoom after him.It was after the independence that this remote place came into prominence when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, planned to build the country’s first steel plant in collaboration with the Soviet Union. Around the same time, the township development commenced.

Bokaro – Past and Present

Bokaro Steel Plant

History of Bokaro

Located in the Bokaro district of Jharkhand, Bokaro Steel Plant is the fourth integrated public sector steel plant in India. Incorporated as a limited company in 1964, it was later merged with the state-owned Steel Authority of India (SAIL). Bokaro Steel Plant is hailed as India's first Swadeshi or national movement steel plant. The region’s huge availability of natural resources, including coal, iron ore, manganese and other raw materials, made it the absolute place to build the desired steel plant. The construction commenced on April 6, 1968 and the years between late 1960’s and early 1970’s witnessed the heavy construction of the steel plant. Its first blast furnace started on October 2, 1972 and the first phase of 1.7 MT ingot steel was completed on February 26, 1978 with the commissioning of the third blast furnace. Bokaro Steel is constantly working towards becoming the only producer of world-class flat steel. To meet the aim, new facilities are appended to increase the capacity and capability of producing the most premium grades required by the most distinguished customer segments.

Bokaro Township

With the setting up of Bokaro steel plan a amjor need was felt to plan and bulkit a permanent dwelling space for the engineers and workers. This lead to the setting up of planned city of Bokaro with basic amenities, robust urban infrastructure and more. With the upcoming of IV/F and IV/G the number of sectors in Bokaro rose to 10 sectors. Each sector is then further divided into sub-sectors A,B,C and so on. In all, the township reflects a very well-developed city with all basic amenities. Bokaro at present is a simple city with high indulgence in store for everyone from people living in the city as well as the visitors. Bokaro is a small city but a very well developed city with all basic facilities.

Bokaro Thermal Power Station

Bokaro Thermal Power Station is one of the coal-based power plants of Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) and is the oldest thermal power plant in Asia. The power plant is situated on the banks of Konar river and is India’s first multipurpose river valley project. It was started in 1952, in collaboration with United States of America and West Germany, by the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. It has two power plants. Started in 1952 BTPS A was shut down in 2000 for violating pollution norms. BTPS B has three power generating units with a total capacity of 630 MW where the first unit was commissioned in 1986. Additionally, a new 500 MW plant is under construction.

This region is rich in coal and the mining operations are carried out by Central Coalfields Limited. It is interesting to note the kind of development this city has gone through – from a remote area to an urban junction. Today Bokaro is not only known for its first ever and Asia’s largest steel plant, but also for its cosmopolitan culture and huge industrialization. The region is also well known for availing rich natural resources.


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