Porto Novo Iron Works

Porto Novo Iron Works
Porto Novo Iron Works c. 1848
Map
Built1830; 194 years ago (1830)[1]
Operated1830; 194 years ago (1830)
LocationPorto Novo (Parangipettai),
South Arcot (Cuddalore District),
Madras Presidency (Tamil nadu), India
IndustryIron and Steel
ProductsIron, Pig iron
Owner(s)Josiah Marshall Heath (Founder)
Defunct1874; 150 years ago (1874)[2]

Porto Novo Iron Works known subsequently as the Indian Steel and Iron company, Porto Novo Iron Company or Porto Novo Steel and Iron Company was a historic iron and steel plant in southern India founded in 1830 by Josiah Marshall Heath and later taken over by the East India Company. The factory was initially located at Porto Novo, now known as Parangipettai, in South Arcot District of Tamil Nadu but was later moved due to fuel shortage to Beypore on the west coast of India.[3] Iron and steel from the plant was used to construct the railway stations at Madras central and Egmore stations and was also exported to Sheffield.[4] The company was dissolved in 1874.

It was the oldest and first Iron & Steel plant in India[5][6] and one of Asia's largest iron manufacturing plants in 1880s.[4] The Portonovo steel was supplied to England and was used to construct the Menai and Britannia bridges.[7] The first pier of the Chennai Port was constructed in 1861 with Porto Novo iron.[8] The porto novo supplied the tracks for the India's first railroad "The Red Hill Railroad" laid in 1836.[9][6][10] In 1850s, 500 tons of wrought iron was supplied by the Porto Novo iron works at rupees 60 a ton for the Construction of railway lines to Raneegunge in West Bengal.[11][12][13] 2,000 worth 400 ploughs were sold to the Bombay Presidency in 1837[14][15] and one hundred tons of iron requested by Secretary in 1846.[16]

  1. ^ Sharada Srinivasan, Srinivasa Ranganathan (November 2004). India's Legendary wootz Steel (PDF). National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore and Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. Pg. no. 39.
  2. ^ Criminal Capital: Violence, Corruption and Class in Industrial India. A Routledge India Original. 14 April 2016. ISBN 978-1-315-46659-0.Pg. No. 1988
  3. ^ Closets, A. Pierre de (3 December 1887). "The past of Porto-Novo iron works". Indian Engineering. 2. Calcutta: 368–369.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference HISTORICAL NOTES was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Ali, Kaikubad. "Iron and Steel Industry in India: History and Distribution". History. pg. 1
  6. ^ a b Percy Bharucha (5 September 2019). "The astonishing story of India's first Railroad".
  7. ^ K. N. P. Rao (1963). "A brief history of the Indian iron and steel industry". International symposium on recent developments in iron- and steelmaking with special reference to Indian conditions (PDF). Jamshedpur: NML. p. 1.
  8. ^ Steel cities of India (PDF). Steel Authority of India Limited. 2012. p. 121.
  9. ^ Aishwarya Iyer (16 Apr 2018). "Track record: India's first rail road". The New Indian Express.
  10. ^ Simon Darvill (December 2011). "India's First Railways". The India's Railways Fan Club.
  11. ^ Construction of experimental line to Raneegunge (PDF). South Western Railways, Indian Railways.
  12. ^ Railways in Asansole: Early days (PDF). Eastern Railways, Indian Railways.
  13. ^ "British and Forign India, China & all parts of East". Allens Indian Mail and Register of Intelligence. Vol. XII. London: William H. Allen. 1854. pp. 39, 68, 379.
  14. ^ Index to the proceedings of the Madras Government of Fort Saint George, in the Public department, for the year 1837. Madras : The Government Press , 1887. p. 41.
  15. ^ Heath, J. M. (1843). "The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland". Letter from J. M. Heath, Esq., on the Introduction of the American Plough into India. Vol. 7. pp. 92–97. JSTOR 25207571. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)
  16. ^ Index to the proceedings of the Madras Government of Fort Saint George, in the Public department, for the year 1846. Madras : The Superintendent, Government Press , 1888. pp. 9, 43.