The story
Bokaro Steel Plant was built with Soviet help in the late 1960s and early 1970s, close to the coal of the Damodar valley. A planned steel city grew around it, with ancillary and fabrication units. Nearby Bhendra village is a traditional blacksmithing cluster making hand and farm tools.
In numbers
The Bhendra blacksmithy / hand-forging cluster had 143 functional units, a turnover of Rs. 173.04 lakh and employment of 450.
Brief Industrial Profile of Bokaro District, MSME-DI Ranchi, Ministry of MSME · 2012
Ways in for a newcomer
- Spares and maintenance job-work for the steel plant
- Branded hand and garden tools from Bhendra smiths
- Steel furniture and trunks from plant-grade sheet
Problems the cluster faces
- Dependence on a single steel plant
- Old tools and low productivity among smiths
- Competition from factory-made tools
Businesses to start here
Agricultural Implements, Cutlery and Hand Tools →Steel Trunk Making Unit →MS Fabrication / Steel Furniture Unit →Engineering Workshop (Job Work and Repairs) →