Industrial Regions

40 industrial towns — every steel and aluminium plant, PSU towns, textile and craft centres, with the match-list PYQs.

On this map (40)

Jamshedpur (Tata Steel) · Jharkhand — Steel · private · 1907. Tata Iron and Steel Co., 1907, at the Subarnarekha–Kharkai meeting point
Bokaro Steel Plant (SAIL) · Jharkhand — Steel · USSR help. SAIL plant built with Soviet help (1970s), on the Damodar
Burnpur (IISCO, SAIL) · West Bengal — Steel · Asansol. Burnpur and Hirapur plants are closer to coal than to ore ✓ (UPSC 1987)
Durgapur Steel Plant (SAIL) · West Bengal — Steel · British help. Bhilai – USSR, Rourkela – West Germany, Durgapur – Britain (UPSC 1980)
Chittaranjan Locomotive Works · West Bengal — Electric locomotives. Railways’ electric locomotive factory, on the Jharkhand border
Rourkela Steel Plant (SAIL) · Odisha — Steel · West German help. First public-sector integrated plant (1959), built with West German help
Bhilai Steel Plant (SAIL) · Chhattisgarh — Steel · Soviet help. Built with USSR help (1959); India’s main maker of rails
Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (RINL) · Andhra Pradesh — Steel · shore-based. India’s first shore-based integrated steel plant; ore from Bailadila
JSW Vijayanagar Works (Toranagallu) · Karnataka — Steel · near Hospet. India’s largest single-location steel plant (JSW), on the Bellary–Hospet ore belt
Visvesvaraya Iron and Steel (Bhadravati) · Karnataka — Steel · 1923. Started 1923 by the Mysore state; ran on charcoal and hydro power, far from coal
Salem Steel Plant (SAIL) · Tamil Nadu — Stainless steel. SAIL’s stainless-steel plant; magnesite and bauxite hills nearby
Renukoot (Hindalco) · Uttar Pradesh — Aluminium · Sonbhadra. HINDALCO smelter — sited for abundant power from the Rihand dam (UPSC 2002)
Korba (BALCO) · Chhattisgarh — Aluminium · coal power. BALCO smelter on cheap coal power; BALCO → Korba (UPSC 2007), Korba → aluminium (UPSC 1984, 1998)
Hirakud (aluminium) · Odisha — Aluminium · Sambalpur. Indian Aluminium Company (now Hindalco) → Hirakud, on the dam’s power (UPSC 2007)
Damanjodi–Koraput (NALCO) · Odisha — Bauxite + alumina. NALCO’s bauxite mine and alumina refinery at Damanjodi; smelter at Angul (UPSC 2007)
Aluva (Alwaye) · Kerala — Aluminium + rare earths. Indian Rare Earths Ltd (monazite) → Alwaye (UPSC 1986)
Haridwar (BHEL) · Uttarakhand — Heavy electricals. BHEL plant — Hardwar → heavy electricals (UPSC 1984)
Pinjore (HMT) · Haryana — Machine tools. Hindustan Machine Tools (UPSC 1986); engineering goods (UPSC 1999)
Gurugram–Manesar · Haryana — Cars · two-wheelers. Maruti Suzuki and Hero two-wheelers; part of the Delhi–Gurugram–Meerut region
Varanasi (Banaras Locomotive Works) · Uttar Pradesh — Locomotives. The old Diesel Locomotive Works (UPSC 1986), renamed Banaras Locomotive Works; now builds electric engines
Bengaluru · Karnataka — Aerospace · electronics · IT. HAL → aeronautical goods (UPSC 1984); BEL, ISRO, IT and electronics
Pune–Pimpri–Chakan · Maharashtra — Automobiles. Tata Motors, Bajaj, Mercedes — Pune → automobiles (UPSC 1999)
Chennai–Sriperumbudur · Tamil Nadu — Cars · electronics. Car plants (Hyundai, Renault-Nissan …) and phone factories; ICF coaches at Chennai
Ahmedabad · Gujarat — Cotton textiles. Cotton textile capital near the black cotton soil; textiles employ the most workers (UPSC 1979)
Surat · Gujarat — Synthetic textiles · diamonds. India’s man-made fibre textile hub; cuts most of the world’s diamonds
Mumbai · Maharashtra — Cotton mills (old) · petrochemicals. Where India’s cotton-mill industry began (1854)
Coimbatore · Tamil Nadu — Cotton textiles · pumps. Spinning mills, motors and pumps; power from Pykara hydel helped it grow
Tiruppur · Tamil Nadu — Knitwear export. India’s knitwear capital — huge exporter of knitted garments (UPSC 2005)
Sivakasi · Tamil Nadu — Fireworks · matches · printing. Makes most of India’s fireworks and safety matches
Kanpur · Uttar Pradesh — Leather · textiles. Leather tanneries and old cotton/woollen mills on the Ganga
Firozabad · Uttar Pradesh — Glass bangles. India’s glass-bangle city (UPSC 1988)
Moradabad · Uttar Pradesh — Brassware. Brass and metal handicrafts for export
Mirzapur–Bhadohi · Uttar Pradesh — Pottery · carpets. Pottery → Mirzapur (UPSC 1988); Bhadohi next door = carpet belt
Bhagalpur · Bihar — Tussar silk. Tussar (“Bhagalpuri”) silk (UPSC 1988)
Hooghly industrial belt (jute) · West Bengal — Jute mills · Kolkata. Jute mills lined both banks of the Hooghly
Ludhiana · Punjab — Hosiery · bicycles. Woollen hosiery and most of India’s bicycles
Panipat · Haryana — Handloom · recycled textiles. Home furnishings and the world’s biggest recycled-woollen textile hub
Yamunanagar · Haryana — Paper · plywood. Paper mills and plywood; paper → Yamunanagar, Guwahati, Ballarpur (UPSC 1998)
Ballarpur · Maharashtra — Paper · Chandrapur. Big paper mill using bamboo from the Chandrapur forests (UPSC 1998)
Sindri · Jharkhand — Fertiliser · Dhanbad. First public-sector fertiliser plant (1951), revived in 2022

Asked in exams

UPSC 1987Plants nearer coal than ore → Burnpur and Hirapur
UPSC 2007IISCO merged with SAIL ✓
UPSC 1980Durgapur steel → built with Britain
UPSC 1980Rourkela → West Germany
UPSC 1980Bhilai → USSR
UPSC 2007RINL declared Mini Ratna ✗ (only the IISCO merger ✓)
UPSC 1998Hospet → iron and steel
UPSC 2002HINDALCO at Renukoot → abundant power
UPSC 2007HINDALCO → Renukoot
UPSC 2007BALCO → Korba
UPSC 1984Korba → aluminium
UPSC 1998Korba → aluminium
UPSC 2007Indian Aluminium Company → Hirakud
UPSC 2007NALCO → Koraput
UPSC 1986Alwaye → Indian Rare Earths
UPSC 1988Alwaye, Koyna, Korba → aluminium (key)
UPSC 1984Hardwar → heavy electricals
UPSC 1986Pinjore → HMT
UPSC 1999Engineering goods → Pinjore
UPSC 1986Varanasi → Diesel Locomotive Works
UPSC 1984HAL → aeronautical goods
UPSC 1999Automobiles → Pune
UPSC 1979Most workers employed → textiles
UPSC 1998Alibag–resort, Balapur–petrochemicals, Nhava Sheva–port, Ratnagiri–fishing
UPSC 2005Tirupur → knitted garments
UPSC 1988Bangles → Firozabad
UPSC 1988Pottery → Mirzapur
UPSC 1988Silk → Bhagalpur
UPSC 2005India produces all five commercial silks ✓
UPSC 1987Hit most by Partition → cotton and jute
UPSC 1990Bangladesh = main rival in → jute
UPSC 1998Paper → Yamunanagar, Guwahati, Ballarpur
UPSC 1982Sindri → fertiliser

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