Kulti, India

History

Kulti introduced modern metallurgy in India. In 1870, James Erskin, an Englishman, established the Bengal Iron Works (also known as Barakar Iron Works. It had two open top furnaces of approved Scottish design and initially purchased locally produced coke. The locally available iron ore contained 47 percent metallic iron. The limestone came from deposits nearby. Auxiliary equipment included blowing engines, apparatus for heating the blast, hoist and water pumps. The blast furnaces produced 40 tons of grey pig iron every 24 hours. Offices, scale houses, stores and dwelling houses were separately built. It employed 1,900 people by the close of the century. The plant was located in the villages of Kendwa and Kulti,

Subsequently, production was enhanced to 200 tons per day, with the addition of the cup and cone top gear for the blast furnaces, installation of 25 coke ovens and other equipment.

Three years after the plant starting producing pig iron towards the middle of 1875, it was found that there was no market for the pig iron, as the foundry industry had not developed sufficiently. It was taken over by the Government of Bengal in 1880-81; it was operated till 1889 as Bengal Iron Works. In 1890, a sterling company was formed in London; it was named Bengal Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. In 1892, Martin & Co. were appointed managing agents.

From the History section of Kulti on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.