ABSTRACT
The size and diversity of private sector industry in Bhilai make generalisations about it difficult. It is, however, safe to assert that historically it has been heavily dependent on public sector patronage. As planned, Bhilai Steel Plant (BSP) provided a magnet for private industry. Entrepreneurs were encouraged to move to Bhilai. Public sector concerns were directed to buy components from ancillaries and other small-scale industries, and to encourage their employees to start them. Industry has marched inexorably on, devouring the countryside in its path. Farmers find their fields encircled by factories and their access blocked. There is then no alternative but to sell. Despite the heterogeneity of private industry in Bhilai, it is predictably iron and steel-related industries that have dominated its development and remain at its core. It was BSP that spawned and nurtured them by supplying scrap and other raw materials on highly favourable terms, by filling their order books and providing technical know-how.
