RAS question
The first iron and steel plant in India was established at:
Correct answer: (B) Jamshedpur (TISCO).
India's first iron and steel plant was established at Jamshedpur as TISCO, now Tata Steel, in 1907.
Explanation
Jamshedpur is the right answer because TISCO, now Tata Steel, was established there in 1907 by Jamsetji Tata. It was India's first integrated steel plant, and that chronology separates the 1907 private-sector beginning of large steel production from later public-sector steel plants in India's industrial geography. Bhilai, Durgapur, and Rourkela belong to the Second Five Year Plan phase, whereas TISCO at Jamshedpur predates them and marks the earlier private-sector beginning of large steel production in India.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Bhilai is wrong because Bhilai Steel Plant was set up with Soviet help in 1959, much later than TISCO at Jamshedpur in 1907.
- (C) Durgapur is wrong because Durgapur Steel Plant was set up with British help in 1959, placing it in the Second Five Year Plan phase rather than the first steel-plant phase.
- (D) Rourkela is wrong because Rourkela Steel Plant was set up with German help in 1959, so it cannot be the 1907 first plant.
Concept
This tests the industrial geography of India's iron and steel industry, especially the chronology and location of major steel plants. It recurs in RAS because steel plants connect resource-based industrial location with planning-era economic development.