Which of the following causes of establishing Iron and Steel Industries in West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand are correct?
(A) Availability of water from rivers
(B) Availability of high grade iron ore
(C) Availability of forest resources
(D) Availability of coal for fuel in the proximity
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → (A), (B), (D) Only
Iron and steel plants use bulky, weight-losing raw materials, so they are set up close to them. West Bengal, Odisha and Jharkhand lie in a region rich in iron ore and coal, and rivers supply the water.
(A) Availability of water from rivers — Correct. The rivers Subarnarekha and Kharkai supply water to the Tata Iron and Steel plant, and the Barakar River supplies the IISCO plants.
(B) Availability of high grade iron ore — Correct. The crescent-shaped region of Chhattisgarh, northern Odisha, Jharkhand and western West Bengal is extremely rich in high grade iron ore.
(C) Availability of forest resources — Incorrect. Forest resources are not a reason for steel plants in this region. Charcoal from nearby forests was used as fuel at the Visvesvaraiya plant in Karnataka, a region that has no coal.
(D) Availability of coal for fuel in the proximity — Correct. The same region has good quality coking coal, and the IISCO plants are located very close to the Damodar valley coal fields.
Note: This question is taken from the pre-rationalised NCERT book. The latest edition (2026-27) does not have this part. An extract of the pre-rationalised NCERT book is given below for the benefit of students.
Pre-rationalised NCERT: “The Iron and Steel Industry … The other raw materials besides iron ore and coking coal, essential for iron and steel industry are limestone, dolomite, manganese and fire clay. All these raw materials are gross (weight losing), therefore, the best location for the iron and steel plants is near the source of raw materials. In India, there is a crescent shaped region comprising parts of Chhattisgarh, Northern Odisha, Jharkhand and western West Bengal, which is extremely rich in high grade iron ore, good quality coking coal and other supplementing raw materials.” “TISCO … The Tata Iron and Steel plant lies very close to the Mumbai-Kolkata railway line and about 240 km away from Kolkata, which is the nearest port for the export of steel. The rivers Subarnarekha and Kharkai provide water to the plant.” “IISCO … All the three plants under IISCO are located very close to Damodar valley coal fields (Raniganj, Jharia, and Ramgarh). Iron ore comes from Singhbhum in Jharkhand. Water is obtained from the Barakar River, a tributary of the Damodar.” |