ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the development of Bengal's coal industry in a way that resolves certain questions in industrial historiography. It overviews various aspects of coal-bearing rocks in India. The chapter also analyses the first phase of the industry's development in detail for the sake of understanding the attitude of the colonial government towards a peripheral industry. It discusses the industry's trajectory of growth during the nineteenth century. The chapter examines why coal mining did not come up in a big way until the middle of the nineteenth century, and also how the growth-inhibiting factors were removed. It also discusses the industry's comparative advantages and explains how Bengal coal successfully competed in domestic and foreign outlets, thereby reducing the import of foreign coal and augmenting the export of domestic coal. The chapter demonstrates that Bengal's coal output remained virtually stagnant between 1856 and 1866.
