Bhilai, Chhattisgarh, India

🇮🇳 Bhilai is a city in Durg district of the Indian state of Chhattisgarh, in eastern central India. Bhilai is the second-largest urban area in Chhattisgarh after Raipur. Bhilai is a major industrial city in India as well as an education hub of central India. The Bhilai metropolis contains three municipal corporations: Bhilai Municipal Corporation, Bhilai-Charoda Municipal Corporation and Risali Municipal Corporation.

The city is home to several industries like Bhilai Steel Plant, Jaypee Cement, Orient Cement, NSPCL Bhilai Power Plant, Steel Authority of India, FSNL and ACC Cement. The city is home to Indian Institute of Technology Bhilai. Jama Masjid in Bhilai is one of the largest mosques in India. The state's oldest zoo is Maitri Bagh in Bhilai.

History Bhilai was a small village and a part of the Haihaiyavansi Kingdom until 1740 when it was conquered by the Marathas.

The foundation of the modern city of Bhilai was laid in 1955 when the Indian government signed a historic agreement with the Soviet Union in Magnitogorsk to establish a steel plant near the village. The first blast furnace of the plant was commissioned in 1959 by the first president of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad.

Geography Bhilai lies in Central India at an elevation of 297m above sea level on the banks of the Shivnath river, a tributary of the river Mahanadi. It covers an area of 341 km² (132 sq mi).

According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, the town falls under seismic zone 2, in a scale of 2 to 5 (in order of increasing value of vulnerability to earthquakes)

Economy Bhilai is home to the Bhilai Steel Plant, the first and largest Indian plant to produce steel rails. The inauguration of the first blast furnace of Bhilai Steel Plant was done by then president of India Dr. Rajendra Prasad, which was established with help from the Soviet Union in 1955.

Iron ore from Rajhara, limestone from Nandini, coal from Jharia, manganese from Balaghat, electric power from the Kosa thermal power plant, and water from the Tandula Canal, all nearby, are used in the Bhilai Steel Plant to manufacture rails and structural steel. Pig iron and billets are supplied to foundries and rolling mills located at Kumhari and other sites in central India.

The number of steel rails produced by the facility till 2007 can go around the circumference of the earth 7.5 times. This is depicted on the monument at the globe square in the heart of the city. The facility underwent modernization and expansion and is amongst the leading manufacturers of iron and steel in Asia.

Education The city serves as an educational hub in the region, with a total of 59 universities and colleges, like Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bhilai, Chhattisgarh Swami Vivekanand Technical University, Bhilai Institute of Technology, Chandulal Chandrakar Memorial Government Medical College, Shri Shankaracharya Institute of Medical Sciences, Rungta Group Of Institutions, St. Thomas College, Shri Shankaracharya Group of Institutions, Christian College of Engineering & Technology, Kalyan College, Sector 7, Bhilai and CSIT Engineering College.

Transport: Road The twin city of Durg-Bhilai is well connected with a network of national and state highways. Some major highways passing through the city are National Highway 53 (NH-53), SH-7 till Bemetara and SH-22 till Abhanpur. The proposed Durg–Raipur–Arang Expressway will start from Durg and will pass near the outskirts of Bhilai till Arang, which after completion, will enhance connectivity and commute in the state.

Transport: Rail There are total 15 railway stations in the twin city that includes railway stations serving adjacent and minor neighbourhoods within the city. The main stations are Bhilai Power House railway station and Durg Junction railway station, which are major railway stations, with Durg being the biggest and the busiest, lying on the Howrah–Nagpur–Mumbai line.

Transport: Bus The Durg Bus Station is a hub with buses plying to any place in and around Chhattisgarh as well as other parts of the country, with daily bus services operated by private and government buses to all cities within the state and outside the state, like Bhubaneswar, Nagpur, Jharsuguda, Varanasi, Prayagraj, Kolkata, Patna, Ranchi, Hyderabad, Jabalpur, Visakhapatnam, among others.

Transport: Metro A light rail, Metrolite or Lite Metro (as referred in India), has been proposed by the Government of Chhattisgarh, which will pass from Naya Raipur to Durg via Raipur and Bhilai.

Transport: Air The nearest major airport is Swami Vivekananda International Airport at Raipur, located 50 km (31 mi) east from Bhilai. The airport at Bhilai is currently a private airport operated by the Bhilai Steel Plant, located 15 km (9.3 mi) north of the city. In recent years, it has been considered for the airport to be developed to handle commercial operations, and make it a domestic airport.