08-16-2017, 09:40 PM
Founded in 1950 the Indian Railway owned industrial unit is named after the Indian freedom-fighter Chittaranjan Das. The manufacturing unit was established at a place close to the Chittaranjan railway station.
The 18.34 km2 (4,530 acres) township, which included a factory, 191 km (119 mi) of roadways, 43 schools, 9,131 staff quarters, 8 clinics (including a 200-bed hospital) and 7 markets, was built at a cost of 140 million (US$2.1 million) and had a population of over 80,000.
The factory commenced the production of steam locomotives on the 26 January 1950 (the date when India formally declared itself a Republic), in collaboration with the North British Locomotive Company. On November 1, 1950 Indian President Dr. Rajendra Prasad formally dedicated the first steam rail-engine produced by the company (a WG class locomotive bearing the registration number 8401) to the freedom fighter Deshbandhu Chittranjan Das. The name of the nearby railway station Mihijam was also changed to Chittaranjan. Many of the specialized machinery required for steam locomotive manufacture was obtained from the Vulcan Foundry in England, previously a major supplier of locomotives to India, which at this time was moving from building steam locomotives to diesel.[1]
Post-1968 the factory began to manufacture diesel-hydraulic locomotives. The production of steam and diesel locomotives were discontinued in 1973 and 1994 respectively. The company has since been manufacturing only electric rail-engines. It is now the only government electric loco producing factory in India.
The factory obtains its iron & steel from IISCO Steel Plant, Asansol and Tata Steel, Jamshedpur and hydel power from Maithon Dam. The township under CLW is bordered by high boundaries and 3 main gates, and guarded by Railway Protection Force (RPF), Railway Protection Special Force (RPSF) and also West Bengal police.
