About Jamshedpur

Well known as the steel city of India, Jamshedpur derives its name from its founder Jamshedji Tata who had the vision of a bright future in making it a well planned industrial city. His son Dorabji Tata set up India’s first iron and steel company here during the British Raj. Jamshedpur is also known by its fascinating nicknames of Tatanagar Steel City or simply Tata.


It is the only million plus city in India to not have a municipal corporation; and a part of it still functions under the Tata’s administration. It can rightfully called as the industrial hub as it has one of the largest industrial areas Adityapur which houses around 1200 small and medium scale industries.

Brief History of Jamshedpur

History of Jamshedpur is linked with the setting up of Tata Steel Plant. In the April of 1904, Jamshedji Tata began his search for a site in India rich in iron, coal, limestone and water resources. This grueling search ended after three good years at the village called Sakchi in the midst of densely forested stretches of Chota Nagpur plateau. He began with a vision of a huge industrial city with impeccable infrastructure and an ideal city. The result of this vision was realized in the setting up of the Tata Steel Company as only the first baby step. In a letter to his son, Dorabji Tata, he had penned down his ideas of wide streets bordered with fast growing variety of tress, many open spaces such as parks and play grounds. He also wanted to make this city a welcoming cosmopolitan and thus envisioned building of temples, mosques and churches alike.

Such extra ordinary vision Jamshedpur was blessed with and it seems to be the chosen. The locals must find themselves lucky to be living in a city founded by such a great visionary. In 1919, Lord Chelmsford rightfully christened this city into Jamshedpur. He wanted to build a city of varied culture, religion and race and he got a well planned, congenial and orderly city which continues to highlight India in the global industrial world.

Geography & Climate of Jamshedpur

Geography and climate of Jamshedpur is much influenced by its location. Situated in the southern part of the state of the youngest state of India, Jharkhand, Jamshedpur is surrounded by Dalmia hills, Ukam Hill, the Jadugoda-musabani hill range and deciduous forests. Within its geographical area of 150 kms, it has the confluence of two rivers Subarnarekha and Kharkai beautifying the city along its course. The 33% green cover on the city can be partly accorded to the Tata campaign of “Green city-clean city-steel city.” Apart from the two rivers, Dimna Lake, which is located at the periphery of the city, is also a provider of drinking water to the city. The south west monsoon winds dominate the rainy season in Jamshedpur from July to September. Annual rainfall is 1200 mm to 1400 mm. At the height of 135 mts. above sea level, Jamshedpur is located on the Chota Nagpur plateau and has very hot summers. It has the tropical wet and dry climate. During the summer season maximum temperature goes upto 40-45 degree centigrade whereas in winter it has recorded a minimum 8 degree centigrade.

Population of Jamshedpur

Situated in the lap of forests, Jamshedpur has considerable amount of tribal population at about 28%. In spite of such a unique demographic, Jamshedpur has literacy rate of 85%, higher than the national average. With total population of 2291032 Jamshedpur ranks amongst the one of the major cities in India. The multi ethnic population consisting of considerable number of immigrants majorly speaks Bengali, Hindi and English; while Santali and Ho are spoken in outskirts.

Economy and Industrialism in Jamshedpur

Jamshedpur was chosen as the site to have India’s first private Iron and Steel Company built. It was an obvious choice as it is surrounded by areas which are rich in minerals like iron ore, manganese, coal, bauxite and lime. Today economy of Jamshedpur is much dependent upon number of industries producing iron and steel, trucks, cement, tinplate, diesel engines, liquefied oxygen and so on.The largest factory is Tata steel, earlier known as Tata Iron and Steel Company or TISCO, and it covers around 1/4th of the total area of Jamshedpur. It also has two inland lakes within. It is ranked 401 in the 2012 Fortune Global 500 ranking of the world's biggest corporations and is also the eighth most-valuable Indian brand according to an annual survey conducted by Brand Finance and The Economic Times in 2010. It employs around 27,000 people and has the capacity of producing 7 million tons per annum. Tata steel is a 5 time winner of the Prime Minister's Trophy for Best Integrated Steel Plant.


Tata motors, earlier known as The Tata Engineering and Locomotive Company (TELCO), is another major factory in Jamshedpur. It manufactures heavy vehicles and earth moving equipments required for construction. It is spread over a huge area of 822 acres and so, is the world's eighteenth-largest motor vehicle manufacturing company, fourth-largest truck manufacturer and second-largest bus manufacturer by volume .Tata Cummins Ltd. Is a joint venture of Tata motors and Cummins India Ltd., which manufactures diesel engines, not only for Tata vehicles but also for generators and marine use.
A well known name in the cement industry, Lafarge cement is located near Tata motors. Tata power, which supplies the entire city with electricity, can be seen while traveling to Jamshedpur by train.
The other industries in the city includes Tata Tinplate, Indian Steel and Wire products, TRF Ltd., Tata Yodogawa Ltd, Praxair and Brin's Oxygen Company.

Fair and Festivals in Jamshedpur

Jamshedpur is a city full of immigrants coming in from various parts of the country. Thus, the multi-ethnic metropolitan witnesses celebrations of festivals ranging from Bakutamma Festival of the Andhraites, Durga Puja by Bengalis, Dandiya of gujratis, Pongal and so on. Each festival is celebrated with such great pomp and show as if it is indigenous to the region.

Tourist Spots in and around Jamshedpur

Since the founder of the city specifically asked for a lot of open spaces and areas promoting sporting activities, you will find many well kept and beautiful parks around the city. Jubilee Park and Dorabji Park are worth a visit. The city no doubt has lots of tourist places to visit. As far as sports are concerned, Jamshedpur offers the following centers for athletic growth:

• JRD TATA sports complex
• Keenan stadium
• Tata football academy
• Tata Archery Academy

Nature lovers are in for a real treat with the following places to visit and breathe in pure nature:

• Hudko lake
• Jublie lake
  
• Dimna lake
• Dalma hills
• Rivers meet or Domohani
• Tata steel zoological park

Shopping in Jamshedpur

Bistupur market is the place to be if you want to go on a shopping spree. It offers to you local brands as well as the leading ones and everything from electronics to jewellery; to apparels and footwear. Kamani centre in the market is a modest looking structure and is a home to shops offering exquisite dress materials and saris; as also affordable leather products to go easy on the pocket. This market is filled with localities at weekends, who come to enjoy shopping and good food. Sakchi market yet another shopping destination is the oldest market in the city . The area saw the opening of Shoppers’ Square which offer multitude of merchandises. Jugsalai market is the place to be if you are looking for stuff at wholesale throwaway prices. To experience real street shopping in the city, Jugsalai, a.k.a. Burma Bazaar, will not fail to amuse you.The city is no alien to mall culture and is home to some of the famous malls like the Horizon mall in Mango, Bindal mall in Sonari, P M mall in Sakchi and the soon to be functional Centenary Mall in Bistupur which will have the city’s first PVR cinema multiplex.

Transportation in Jamshedpur

Jamshedpur, being an industrial hub is frequented by a lot of people from the business community but it fails to provide adequate air connectivity. Its nearest airports are Birsa Munda Airport at Ranchi at a distance of 130 km and Kolkata airport which is a good 260 kms far. Nevertheless, private cabs and buses are available to ply travelers from the airport, which takes around 2 and half hours from Ranchi. The Tatanagar railway station in the city is well connected directly to important cities viz. Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, and Guwahati. In short Jamshedpur has a well structured transportation network that connects it to majot parts of the country. Within the city, transportation is easily accessible with the availability of auto rickshaws and buses. There are hi-tech buses plying passengers in the city owing to the JNNURM scheme of the Central Government, which have GPS, electronic vending machines and electronic sign boards. They ply from two major bus depots of Agrico and Baridih. National Highway 6, 32, 33, connects the city to other parts of the country.

Jamshedpur At A Glance

State: Jharkhand
Metropolitan Area: 150 kms
Languages spoken: Bengali, Hindi, and English
Altitude: 135 mts. above sea level
Longitudinal Extent : 86 Degree 04 min - 86 Degree 54 min East
Latitudinal Extent : 22 Degree 12 min - 23 Degree 01 min North
Annual rainfall : 1200 mm to 1400 mm
Winter temperature: lowest is 1^o C
Summer temperature: 40^o – 45^o C
Best time to visit: October to March
STD Code: 0657
Major tourist attractions: Hudko lake, Dimna lake, Dalma hills, Rivers meet or Domohani, Tata steel zoological park