Bengal Coal Company Collieries Railways

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Bengal Coal Company Collieries Railways

History

The Carr,Tagore and Company was established in 1873 by Dwarkanath Tagore (1794–1846), one of the first Indian industrialists and entrepreneurs, together with his partners to form an anglo-indian trading Agency [1]. The Company aquired the 'Raniganj Colliery' which was later merged with the 'Naraincoory Colliery' to establish the Bengal Coal Company together with the Great Western Bengal Railway Company[2]

The Bengal Coal Company Ltd was a colliery company established in 1837. The head office was at 8 Clive Row, Calcutta [3].and Andrew Yule & Co were the Managing Agent[4].

In the year 1855-56, after the East Indian Railway (EIR) had extended the line to Raniganj, 100,000 tons of coal were transported from Raniganj to Calcutta. The EIR was dependent on this supply of coal coming mainly from the ‘Raniganj Colliery’ operated by the 'Bengal Coal Company' in the ‘Burdwan Coalfied District’ By 1860 there were a total of 50 collieries (many being indepenent) in the Raniganj district producing about 282,000 tons of coal annually. This dependence lasted until 1871 when EIR opened its own coalfields in the Giridih District[5].

By the early 20th century the Company owned twelve collieries with an output of 60,000 tons per month[3]. The names of these collieries is not known.

The company had collieries listed at the following locations at the nationalisation of the Indian coal industry in 1975 [3]:-

  • Raniganj Coalfield - Chiakuri Pits 1,2,3; Parelia; Poidh; Sanctoria; Sodepur
  • Kajora Coalfield - Kunastoria
  • Sripur Coalfiels - Adjoy Second; Banksimulia; Giriminit

Colliery Railways

Railways were fundamental in the operation of these collieries. Thesre would be light railways to bring the coal to loading yards to enable the coal to be transferred to branch lines leading to the main EIR mainline.

Details of these railways have not yet been investigated

References

  1. ↑ 'The Telegrapgh India' "Businessman called Tagore" by Hindol Sengupta, 30 Nov 2014; Retrieved 11 Oct 2017
  2. ↑ “Symphony of Progress - The Saga of the Eastern Railway 1854-2003”; published by Eastern Railway, 2003; page 4
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 “Industrial Railways and Locomotives of India and South Asia” compiled by Simon Darvill. Published by ‘The Industrial Railway Society’ 2013. ISBN 978 1 901556 82-7. Available at http://irsshop.co.uk/India. Reference: Entry WB147 page ....
  4. ↑ “Industrial Railways and Locomotives of India and South Asia” compiled by Simon Darvill. Published by ‘The Industrial Railway Society’ 2013. ISBN 978 1 901556 82-7. Available at http://irsshop.co.uk/India. Reference: Entry WB119 page ....
  5. ↑ “Symphony of Progress - The Saga of the Eastern Railway 1854-2003”; published by Eastern Railway, 2003; pages 22 and 50
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