PN Bose’s letter behind arrival of Tatas in Jamshedpur

Jamshedpur, Feb 23: In 1882, Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata saw the report by Von Schwarz titled, “Report on the financial prospects of iron-working in the Chanda district” that stated the best situated iron ore deposits in the Chanda District was at Lohara. Nearby, Warora had coal. After testing of coal, it was found unsuitable.

The initial plan was to acquire iron from Lohara and coal from Warora in the Chanda district of Central Provinces to produce steel, but the quality of coal was found to be inadequate. Jamsetji N Tata advertised in various technical journals in England, offering a reward to anyone who could develop a method of smelting the Lohara ore with Warora coke. The result was not encouraging.

The next site was found by Sir Dorabji Tata. Sir Dorabji Tata was on a visit to meet the commissioner at the Nagpur secretariat, but since the commissioner was not available, he walked down to the museum across the road. Sir Dorabji was attracted by a colourful geological map informing about the magnificent iron ore deposits of Dhalli-Rajhara. Although, the iron ore was of finest quality, cokable coal and water were not available, therefore, Dhalli-Rajhara was also discarded.

 On February 24, 1904, a letter from Pramatha Nath Bose (the pioneering Indian geologist and paleontologist) put Tatas on the right track. Ritter von Schwarz’s report was the first stepping stone. The letter spoke of good quality iron ore in the Mayurbhanj state, and availability of coal in Jharia. A study was conducted on the supply of water from the two rivers – Subarnarekha and Kharkai. All these events led to the setting up of Tata Steel in a small village called Sakchi, now Jamshedpur.

 Tata Iron and Steel Company Limited (TISCO) was set up in 1907, a little distance away from Mayurbhanj, near the village of Sakchi, at the confluence of two rivers – Subarnarekha and Kharkai which was also close to the Bengal-Nagpur railway line.

Born on May 12, 1855 in a remote village of Gaipur, in 24 Parganas district, West Bengal, geologist P N Bose graduated in Science from London University and passed out from the Royal School of Mines in 1878.