The state of Jharkhand, widely acclaimed as the region of future, has enormous potentialities for industrialization. With its large deposits of minerals, it provides a solid launching pad for all kinds of industries.
Born out of partition from old Bihar state in 2000, Jharkhand produces about 70% of the output of the old Bihar state. It is known for its rich store of minerals: therefore, mining in Jharkhand forms an integral part of the economy of Jharkhand. Since it is rich in minerals, the state per capita income is likely to increase in the coming years.
Jharkhand has a concentration of some of the country‘s highly industrialised cities such as Jamshedpur, Ranchi, Bokaro Steel City and Dhanbad. It also has several firsts in India, including:
Largest fertiliser factory of its time in India (since shut down) at Sindri, Dhanbad
? First Iron & steel factory at Jamshedpur
? Largest Steel plant in Asia, Bokaro steel plant, Bokaro.
? Biggest explosives factory at Gomia, Bokaro.
? First methane gas well at Parbatpur, Bokaro.
? Major industrial units
? Bokaro Steel Plant, Bokaro.
? Tata Steel Plant, Jamshedpur.
? Tata Motors, Jamshedpur.
? Tata Cummins, Jamshedpur.
? TRF Limited, Jamshedpur.
? BMW Steel, Bokaro.
? Lafarge Cement, Jamshedpur.
? TELCON, Jamshedpur.
? BOC Gases, Jamshedpur.
? Praxair, Jamshedpur.
? Tinplate, Jamshedpur.
? Heavy Engineering Corporation,(HEC Ltd.,Dhurwa), Ranchi.
? Patratu Thermal Power Station, Ramgarh.
? Chandrapura Thermal Power Station,Chandrapura,Bokaro.
? Bokaro Thermal Power Station, Bokaro Thermal,Bokaro.
? Indian Explosive Limited, Gomia, Bokaro
? JP Cement, Bokaro
? Maithon Hydro Power Station,Maithan, Bokaro.
? Panchet Hydro Power Station,Panchet, Damodar Valley Corporation
? Telaiya Hydro Power Station,Telaiya, Damodar Valley Corporation
? Tenughat Thermal/Hydro Power Station, Bokaro.
? Jindal Steel Plant, Patratu.
? Electrosteel Plant, Bokaro.
? Bharat Refractories Limited. Bokaro
? Usha Martin, Ranchi.
? Central Coalfields Limited.
? Bharat Coaking Coal Limited.
? Eastern Coalfields Limited.
? Central Mine Planning & Designing Institute Limited.
? Metallurgical and Engineering Consultancy(MECON) Limited.
? Ashok Industries, Bokaro Industrial Area
Talking about the business and economy of Jharkhand, it can be said that Jharkhand houses two major steel plants in India. The steel plants at Bokaro and the Tata Iron and Steel Company are the two major plants housed within the territory of Jharkhand. These steel plants largely contribute towards the economy of not only Jharkhand, but India.
Among the other important steel plants that form an integral part of the business and economy at Jharkhand are:
Indian Tube Company
Sriram Bearing
Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company
Usha Martin, etc.
Besides, the topography of Jharkhand is rich in minerals. The abundance in minerals also enhances the prospects of the industries in Jharkhand. Some of the important minerals found in Jharkhand & their ranging from (state‘s rank in the country) from Iron ore (1st), coal (3rd), copper ore (1st), mica (1st), bauxite (3rd), Manganese, limestone, china clay, fire clay, graphite (8th), kainite (1st), chromite (2nd), asbestos (1st), thorium (3rd), sillimanite, uranium (Jaduguda mines, Narwa Pahar) (1st), gold (Rakha mines) (6th), silver and several other minerals are found in the state.
It is noteworthy that these minerals form the foundation of all the major industries in Jharkhand, one of the biggest industrial belts in India.
Large deposits of coal and iron ore support concentration of industry in centers like Jamshedpur, Bokaro and Ranchi.
Tata Steel, an S&P CNX 500 conglomerate has its corporate office in Jharkhand. It reported a gross income of Rs.204, 910 million for 2005. NTPC will start coal production from its captive mine in state in 2011-12, for which the company will be investing about Rs 1,800 crore.
Jharkhand is a state of Mines, Minerals and Industries. Mines are located in almost all parts of state. Dhanbad District are known as coal capital of India, Koderma District is known as Mica capital of India, Singbhum District (Jamshedpur and Chaibasa) is the home of Tata industries and rich in iron and ore as well as Bokaro District has Asia‘s largest steel production centre setup by government of India.
Iron Ore – The total reserve of Hematite in Jharkhand region is over 3000 million tones. Out of this total reserves 2000 million tones occur in Chiria, near Monoharpur in the Singbhum district is one of the largest single deposits of the world. The average quality of Chiria deposits 62-63% Fe content which should be judiciously exploited in, phased manner to suit the long term need of our country.
Coal – Almost 100% of prime coking coal, 93% of medium coking coal and about 30% of the semi coking coal or bendable coal reserves are available in Jharkhand. The total reserves of the coal in Jharkhand is of the order 69128 million tones which spread over Jharia, Bokaro, Rajmahal, Hazaribagh and Chatra area.
Copper – Singhbhum Copper Belt comprises of a Proterozoic volcano-sedimentary rock that creates a shear zone known as Singhbhum shear zone. Copper mineralization in SCB is localized along this shear zone. Prominent deposits of the belt are Chapri, Rakha, Surda, Kendadih, Pathargora and Dhobani. Other deposits are: Turamdih, Ramchandrapahar, Nandup, Bayanbil and Dhadkidih (Singhbhum, Jharkhand).
Indian Copper Corporation Ltd was established by a British company in 1930 at Ghatsila consisting of a cluster of underground copper mines, concentrator plants and smelter. On 25.09.72 the Govt. of India nationalized the company under provisions of the Indian Copper Corporation (Acquisition of Undertaking Act) and merged the same with HCL. Today it falls under the sate of Jharkhand, under the jurisdiction of east Singbhum district.
Sindri: The famous fertiliser complex, 30 kms away from Dhanbad, is located on the bank of Damodar River.
Uranium – Jaduguda: Located in East Singhbhum district, it is the first place where exploration followed by exploratory mining was undertaken. Soon after, exploitation was undertaken by UCIL in 1967. Mining is still in progress and mineralisation has been found to continue beyond 900 meters vertical depth. Here the mineralisation is associated with conglomerate and chlorite schist of Singhbhum group of Proterozoic age.
Bhatin: It lies 2 km west of Jaduguda along the Singhbhum shear zone. Mineralisation is associated with brecciated quartzite and biotite chlorite schist, which are highly sheared. Mining is in progress.
Narwapahar: It lies 10 km west of Jaduguda along the Singhbhum shear zone. The host rock for uranium mineralisation is chlorite-quartz schist and the mineralisation is spread over 2000 meters strike length. Currently this deposit is under exploitation by UCIL.
Turamdih: A cluster of deposits (Turamdih-East, Turamdih-South, Turamdia-West, Keruadurgri) occur in proximity to each other at Turamdih located nearly 20 kms west of Jaduguda. Uranium mineralisation is associated with chlorite quartz schist. At Turamdih (East) the mineralisation is spread over 2 km X 1 km area and the entire resource occurs within a vertical depth of 200 meters. Mining of Turamdih east deposit is in progress by UCIL.
Mohuldih: It is located 5 km west of Turamdih. The host rock is tourmaline bearing quartz schist, quartzite and chlorite quartz schist. Mineralisation is established over 1 km strike length and within a vertical depth of 250 m.
Bagjata: It is located nearly 25 km South East of Jaduguda. Uranium mineralisation is hosted by quartz chlorite biotite schist. The mineralisation is spread over 450 m strike length with a vertical persistence of 260m.
Other smaller uranium occurrences along this shear zone, in a similar geological set up are (i) Kanyaluka (ii) Garadih (ii) Nimdih (iv) Rajgaon and (v) Nandup.
Lime Stone – There are 22 mines of limestone in Jharkhand having a total reserve of 563 million tones in Palamu, Hazaribag, Singbhum and Ranchi districts. All grades of lime stone (BF, SMS and Cement grade) are available in these mines.
Graphite – The Graphite reserve of Jharkhand is mainly located in Palamu district. The most important deposit of Palamu district is located at Sokra, Satbarba, Barwadih area where both flaky and amorphous graphite occur in lumpy form. A reserve of 0.6 million tones with 50 to 60% carbon content has been estimated at Sokra. The deposits of Palamu district are being mined mainly by State Mineral Development Corporation and few private parties.
Granite and ornamental stones – Extensive deposits of granite and ornamental stones such as dolomites, gabber, peridolite, banded hematite jasper and migmatites etc. are also available in this state. Based on the IBM reports, the granite reserved are estimated to be around 19 millions cu.mt.
Fireclay – Fireclay deposits are available in the coal bearing region of Dhanbad, Hazaribag, Giridih, Ranchi and Palamu district. Out of the total 703 million tones reserves in the country, Jharkhand has over 47 million tones deposits of fireclay.
It is noteworthy that Jharkhand is known to possess about 2000 million tonnes of hematite, which occurs in the Chiria region in the Singhbhum district of Jharkhand. In fact, Chiria has the potential to produce about 10 million tonnes of hematite per annum. Besides, coal is found in abundance in the Jharia, Rajmahal, Bokaro and Chatra districts of Jharkhand: it is said that Jharkhand possesses about 93% of medium coking coal, 30% of blendable coal and almost 100% of prime cooking coal. Moreover, we find about 22 limestone mines in Jharkhand, which are spread across Palamu, Hazaribagh, Ranchi and Sighbhum districts in Jharkhand.
Thus, it can be concluded that Jharkhand mines and minerals are an inevitable part of the economy, not only of Jharkhand but also of India.
It is noteworthy that although being an industrial belt and mineral based manufacturing industry is the mainstay of Jharkhand’s economy, agriculture also plays an important role in the business and economy of Jharkhand. In fact, despite being mineral-rich, 80 percent of Jharkhand’s population resides in villages and they depend primarily on agriculture and other associated activities for their livelihood. The principal food grains of Jharkhand are wheat, paddy, maize and pulses.
Varied agricultural economy also supports a host of agro-based industries in the state that includes food processing. Just within a period of three years, the state has graduated from a vegetable procuring state to a 100,000 tonnes vegetable surplus state. The soil as well as the climatic conditions of the state is favourable for the growth of mushroom, tea, ornamental plants and spices.
Favourable agro-climatic conditions also facilitate the year-round production of various types of off-season vegetables and fruits, which also reflects favorably on the agriculture of Jharkhand.
Therefore, it can be concluded that the business and economy is a mixed bag: agriculture and industries flourish side by side within the territory of Jharkhand.
Besides industries, Jharkhand is also rich in forests, woodlands, energy reserves and fertile land. This makes Jharkhand a potentially independent state. However, though being a potentially rich state, it is facing some teething problems towards its development, which largely pertains to infrastructural lacunae. The state government of Jharkhand is endeavouring to launch ambitious programmes to increase agricultural production, through rainwater harvesting, supply of agricultural implements and better quality of seeds.
Access of some of the basic facilities such as potable water, road, steady power supply and educational facilities to the multitude of the state’s population, are proving to be daunting challenges. The state has a number of prosperous industrial cities like Dhanbad, Jamsedhpur, Bokaro, etc. but the large parts of rural Jharkhand are still reeling under poverty. However, there are many opportunities in the state in the field of geological exploration, power generation, as well as in mining of silver, gold, other base metals and many of the precious stones, which need to be properly harnessed to make the business and economy of Jharkhand a prosperous one.
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