Day 15: Travelling from Patna to Jamshedpur, the Steel City of India

Experience is the only teacher we have. We may talk and reason all our lives, but we shall not understand a word of truth until we experience it ourselves. 

Swami Vivekananda

Mentor On Road had an early morning 6 a.m. start from Patna to Jamshedpur as it is a 10 hour drive and on reaching Jamshedpur there is an interactive session at 6 p.m. with the members of the Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Mentor On Road has entered the 9^th state of leg 2, will reach Ranchi soon and then onwards to Jamshedpur.

Some beautiful scenes from the early morning sunrise.                                                                                                                                    

On the way, we passed through quite a few major sites and cities of cultural and industrial significance with the first site being Bodh Gaya, the religious site and place of pilgrimage associated with the Mahabodhi Temple Complex (UNESCO World Heritage Site) in Gaya district, famous for being the place where Gautama Buddha is said to have obtained Enlightenment under what became known as the Bodhi Tree. Bodh Gaya is the most holy place for the followers of the Buddhist faith all over the world. Situated by the bank of river Neranjana (Lilajan or Falgu River) the place was then known as Uruwela. King Ashoka was the first to build a temple here.

We then passed by another major city Hazaribagh which is famous as a health resort and for the Hazaribagh National Park. Hazaribagh has the second highest coal reserve in Jharkhand (Dhanbad region has the first) and is still largely intact. Recently there has been a spurt in the coal mining activities in the region by Central Coalfields Ltd., a subsidiary of Coal India Limited. Work is currently going on for the development of NTPC's 3000 MW and Reliance Power's 3600 MW Super Thermal Power Projects. A major NTPC township is also coming 10 kms from the city. Many downstream steel plants and other industries are also envisioned due to its proximity to coal, water and power. Damodar Valley Corporation has a number of offices in Hazaribagh.

The second major city that we passed by was Ramgarh, a mining, industrial and cultural hub with the famous Maa Chhinnamasta Temple. The name Ramgarh means "The Fort of God Ram". 

Ramgarh is an important industrial district of East India. Several mineral based industries like steel, sponge iron, cement, refractory and thermal power plant etc. are established due to availability of coal and other minerals. Some of the prominent industrial units include:

Public sector industries

• Patratu Thermal Power Station, Patratu
• Steel authority of India (SAIL) Refractories:
• IFCO, Marar
• Bharat Refractories Ltd. Ranchi Road

• C.C.L., Central Repair Work Shop, Barkakana

Private sector industries

• Jindal Steel & Power Limited (JSPL): Balkudra, Patratu
• Indo-Ashahee Glass Company, Bhadaninagar
• Brahmaputra Metallics Ltd, Kamta, Gola
• Jharkhand Ispat Private Limited, Hesla
• Aloke Steels Industries Private Limited, Budhakhap, Karma
• Maa Chhinnamastika Cement and Ispat Private Limited, Budhakhap, Karma
• Sri Durga Cement Company Limited
• DLF Power Limited, Rajrappa
• DLF Power Limited, Argada
• Anindita Trades & Investments Ltd. (Sponge Iron Unit),Senegarha
• Chintpurani Steel Pvt. Ltd., Indra
• Shri Venkatesh Iron & Alloys Ltd, Lapanga
• Dayal Steels Ltd, Chaha
• Sri Ram Power & Steel Pvt. Ltd, Sarubera
• Redeemer Engisoft Pvt Ltd (Software Company), Ramgarh
• Shree Nanak Ferro Alloys Pvt Ltd (Silico Manganese), Rauta, Ranchi Road, Ramgarh

The third major city that we passed by was Ranchi, which has a high conglomeration of educational instutions such as Ranchi University (RU) and its affiliated National Institute of Foundry and Forge Technology, Birla Institute of Technology (BIT), Mesra, Indian Institute of Management Ranchi, IIM-R, Institute of Management Studies, Ranchi, National University of Study and Research in Law, Ranchi (NUSRL), National Institute of Foundry and Forge Technology (NIFFT), Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Central University of Jharkhand, Ranchi (CUJ, Ranchi), Xavier Institute of Social Service (XISS), Birsa Agricultural University, Central Institute of Psychiatry, Kanke, Indian Institute of Natural Resins and Gums (IINRG), Namkum, and the Indian Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology, Gharkhatanga.

The major exportable items of Ranchi include heavy machineries and equipment, minerals and ceramics.

After an exhilarating journey, we finally reached Jamshedpur in 10 hours. Mentor On Road had a very intense interaction with the 100+ members of Jamshedpur’s Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which was established to represent trade, commerce, industry and professionals especially in the Kolhan region of Jharkhand. About 1500 members of this organization directly and indirectly represent more than 1,75,000 people from the leading industrial houses of Jamshedpur such as Tata Steel and Tata Motors. 

Several sharp questions on a range of issues were raised.

Understood their diverse challenges and suggested them workable solutions. One of their main challenges is that they are dependent on business with the large OEM’s owing to which payments get delayed. I also suggested them to move onto digital marketing and use credit card advance payments to facilitate faster cash turnaround and better marketing to reach a wider section of their customers.

Fill the brain with high thoughts, highest ideals, place them day and night before you, and out of that will come great work. 

Swami Vivekananda