2. Burnpur, Indian Iron and Steel Company (ITSCO)

The Indian Iron and Steel Company, founded in 1918, and the Steel Corporation of Bengal, founded in 1927, were merged under the former name in 1952. It has three separate plants at Burnpur (about 5 km south-west of Asansol), Hirpur (about 6 km south of Asansol) and Kulti (about 16 km west of Asansol). The management of these steel plants was taken over by the government in 1972.

These steel plants obtain iron ore from their mines at Goa. The coal is obtained from Ramnagar mines ofjharia, which is only about 3 km from Kulti. Manganese is obtained from Bihar,Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Odisha; fire-clay from Singhbhum. Moreover, cheap hydro-electricity is available from the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) and water from the Damodar river. Cheap labour is available from within the tribal belt of the region and Bihar, while the seaport of Kolkata helps in the export of the finished product.