Question

Coal mining started at Raniganj in West Bengal in the year _________.
A) 1700
B) 1765
C) 1774
D) 1779

Answer 1

Hint:
Raniganj is a county in Asansol and Durgapur of the Paschim Bardhaman district in the state of West Bengal. Raniganj Coalfield is principally situated in the Asansol and Durgapur portions of Paschim Bardhaman region of West Bengal. It stretches over to the adjacent regions of Birbhum, Bankura, Purulia, and Dhanbad region of Jharkhand.

Complete Answer:
Coal was first discovered in 1774 by John Sumner and Suetonius Grant Heatly of the British East India Company near Ethora, currently in Salanpur society expansion. The initial investigation and mining processes were carried out in a disorganized way. Steady mining commenced in 1820, run by an intervention house, Alexander & Co. In 1835, Prince Dwarkanath Tagore credited over the coalfaces and Carr, Tagore and Company controlled the field. For the complete 19th century and a chief part of the 20th century, Ranigunj collieries were the key manufacturer of coal in the nation. At the request of William Princep, Carr, Tagore and Company combined hands with Gilmore Hombray and Co. in 1843 to shape Bengal Coal Company, which commenced coal withdrawal actions. Their HQs was at Sanctoria. Further mining productions encompassed Birbhum Coal Co., Equitable Coal Co., Madhu Roy and Prasanna Dutta Co., Bird and Co., South Barakar Coal Co., Andrew Yule and Company Ltd., and Balmer Lawrie.

Thus, option (C) is correct.

Note:
All non-coking coal mines were publicly owned in 1973 and positioned under Coal Mines Authority of India. In 1975, Eastern Coalfields Limited, a subordinate of Coal India Limited, was shaped. It took over all the former sequestered coalfaces in Raniganj Coalfield. Raniganj Coalfield envelops an expanse of 443.50 sq. km and has full coal assets of 49.17 billion tonnes, stretched transversely Indian states of West Bengal and Jharkhand. That makes it the 2nd principal coal mine in the nation (in terms of assets). Out of the entire cache, 30.61 billion tonnes is in West Bengal and 18.56 billion tonnes is in Jharkhand.