Jharsuguda

Geography and climate

Jharsuguda is located at 21.85°N 84.03°E / 21.85; 84.03. It has an average elevation of 218 metres (715 ft). Jharsuguda is located in Western Odisha. State highway 10 and National highway 200 (NH-200) pass through Jharsuguda. The Ib river flows along the Western side of Jharsuguda town and the river Bheden flows in the south. The area of the town is 70.47 km², and has a population of 579,499.

The town is situated at 21.82° north longitude and 84.1° latitude and at a height of 700–750 feet above mean sea level. The highest temperature recorded during the summer months is 48.0 °C. It has an average rainfall of 1527 mm.

Culture

Jharsuguda is a cosmopolitan city housing people from various regions of India. Major festivals celebrated in the town are:

Economy and infrastructure

Jharsuguda is fast emerging as the economic hub of Odisha; the state government has formed a master plan for the city's development. Jharsuguda has a unit of UltraTech Cement, which is India's largest cement manufacturing company, at Dhutra. Many small and medium sized steel plants are being set up in the outlying areas of the town, including Bhushan Power & Steel Limited, in Thelkoloi village, SMC Power Generation, Action Ispat, Eastern Steel & Power, TRL Krosaki Refractories and Concast Steel & Power. A few large-scale units of Vedanta Alumina and Utkal Alumina International will be setting up units in the area.

Transport

Since the Colonial era, the city has had a relatively developed transportation network. Primary modes of transport are auto rickshaws, 'Savaris', taxi vans and municipal or state operated buses.

The Jharsuguda Airport is under expansion at Durlaga. It has an airstrip since British times, which is currently upgrading to a full-fledged airport. As of June 2017, there are no regularly scheduled flights being operated.

Jharsuguda is an important railway junction on the Tatanagar–Bilaspur section of the Howrah-Nagpur-Mumbai line and the Jharsuguda-Vizianagaram line. The railway station comes under South Eastern Railway.

Jharsuguda is connected to various towns of the states by State Highway 10 and National Highway 49.

Politics

The current Member of the Legislative Assembly from Jharsuguda Assembly Constituency is Naba Kishore Das, who won the seat in 2009 and again in 2014. Jharsuguda is currently under Bargarh constituency of the Lok Sabha. This constituency came into existence in 2008 as a part of delimitation of parliamentary constituencies based on the recommendations of the Delimitation Commission of India in 2002. Jharsuguda was previously under the Deogarh constituency of the Lok Sabha. The current Member of Parliament from Bargarh is Dr. Prabhas Singh from the Biju Janata Dal party, taking office in 2014.

Tourism

Education

The pre-collegiate medium of instruction in schools is predominantly English and Odia. The medium of instruction in educational institutions after matriculation in colleges is English. Other media of instruction also exist in Jharsuguda. Schools and colleges in Jharsuguda are mostly government-run, but schools run by private trusts and individuals also exist. The schools are affiliated with either the Odisha State Board under the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) or Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE), Indian Certificate of Secondary Education and the Central Board of Secondary Education. After completing 10 years of schooling in secondary education, students enroll in higher secondary school, specialising in one of three streams – arts, commerce or science.

In November 2016, the professional accounting body Institute of Chartered Accountants of India opened a branch at Jharsuguda.