In the whole of the Indian subcontinent, there is no lack of cities, townships and places that have developed in their proper shape over these years. In the state of West Bengal too, numerous towns have also developed. Amongst them, Haldia needs special mentioning. Haldia is a city of Purba Medinipur, which falls under the jurisdiction of a municipality. Amongst all the people of India, Haldia town is also popular for its huge seaport that is situated near about fifty kilometers southwestern part of Calcutta. It is just built near the mouth of the river Hooghly that is considered to be one of the distributaries of the River Ganges. There is another importance of the Haldia city. The Indian Coast Guard has built their base in the city of Haldia. . There is a `hover-port`, which can provide accommodation to two of the six hovercrafts owned by the Indian Coast Guard.

Throwing some light on the total population of the Haldia town, it has been enumerated to be 170,695 in the year 2002. According to some people, Haldia city is highly acclaimed as a main port for trading in Calcutta, which entailed chiefly for huge cargoes.



In the present day, Haldia has become an icon for industrial development of that state of West Bengal. Various industries, both big and small, have thronged the region over the years. These include South Asian Petrochemicals Limited, Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Exide, Shaw Wallace, Tata Chemicals, Petrochemical complex (Haldia Petrochemical) and Hindustan Lever and also a variety of light industries.

Not only that, quite a few foreign factories has opened their branches in the Haldia industrial city. Mitsubishi Chemical Company (MCC) is one such important factory that is doing business in the soils of Haldia. Every one is also aware of the importance of Haldia Petrochemicals, which has been established in the city and also being the second largest of Indian Territory. Quite a number of large numbers of companies have also established. Dredging Corporation of India Limited (DCI) is the auxiliary industries to the Haldia Petrochemicals.

Haldia is a contemporary city and is indeed a fast growing one. The Haldi River, a branch let of the river Ganges creates a boundary of the Haldia Township.

To spend time at the time of leisure, maximum of the people of the Haldia city have taken to riverside. In fact it is the most famous tourist destination for the city dwellers and one can easily find people enjoying the stroll down the riverside mainly during the evening times. Also in order to facilitate the accessibility of the Haldia city with most parts of the West Bengal state, much efforts have been taken to develop the transportation system of Haldia . Thus the entire city of Haldia is being well connected to Kolkata by both bus and train services. As recent phenomenon, efforts have been taken to introduce new air-conditioned buses, which takes less than 3 hours from the Haldia city to Kolkata. Several local transports like cars, bikes, auto rickshaws and especially bi cycles are also sufficed the needs of the people to reach the Haldia city. Moreover, a catamaran service has started few years back, which carry passengers directly from Kolkata to Haldia. However this service was later drawn back due to its huge costing and declining in the number of passengers.

However any discussion on the development of a city would not be complete without due mentioning of its geographical location . As far as the Haldia city is concerned, it is situated at 22.03° N 88.06° E. It has an average height of eight metres or 26 feet.

Demographical data too is quite significant in depicting the importance of a city like Haldia. Census report of the year 2001 is quite a relevant document in this regard. According to this report, Haldia city had a total population of 170,695. Both males ,females as well as children contributes to this population counting of the Haldia For instance, males comprises of 53 percent of the population while female dwellers comprises of 47 percent. Children below the age of six years constitutes of thirteen percent of the population of the city of Haldia. Literacy rate figure is also significant. Haldia has an average literacy rate of 72 percent . Interestingly, it is higher than the national average, which is taken to be 59.5 percent. Here in this regard it is also a noteworthy thing that the female literacy rate of females in Haldia city is higher than that of the males. Male literacy rate is 79 percent and female literacy rate is as high as 98 percent.


Climatic conditions of the Haldia city are also necessary to make a mention. The climate of city of the Haldia is a typical moderate one. During winter season, the temperatures rang from 8 degrees Celsius to 12 degrees Celsius. Winters are cool and pleasant. That the people of Haldia city love music, dance and festivity are apparent from the festivals that they have organized over the years. During the winter times, the Haldia Utsav takes place and every people of Haldia city gets enthralled with the enjoyment and amusement. Summer seasons are hot, sultry and humid with temperatures rising up to forty degrees of Celsius. Rainfall is modest, and the rainy months held between the months of May and September.

Haldia city is a hub of several educational institutes and colleges as well. The chief schools are Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan,Haldia Govt. Spon.Vivekanada Vidyabhaban, St. Xaviers High School, Assembly of God Church School, Vivekananda mission, Poura Path Bhavan and Kendriya Vidyalaya.

Also an engineering college has been established. It is called as the "Haldia Institute of Technology". This technological institute is presently under the jurisdiction of technical university.

The Central Library too has been digitalized and `Barcoded`. In Haldia , this library comprises of 43000 books and one hundred and eighty one has got a treasure of national and international journals. Also a Law college has been established in the heartland of Haldia city.

Apart from education, emphasis also has been given on certain other areas. Instances are numerous. An Industrial Training Institute also has been built in Haldia. . Another one too is under production.

In Haldia , plan to start a medical college also has been implemented. There is a hospital, named Dr B C ROY Hospital, Banbishnupur, Balughata Haldia has stated functioning under ICARE . It is a luxuriant hospital providing all top class modern amenities. In fact there are seven hundred beds and is an entirely air-conditioned.

Sports too play an integral part in the lives of the people of Haldia city. In the whole township of Haldia, there are ample space where one gets involved in a lot of sporting activities, the most important are soccer and cricket. Even in all the schools there are huge playgrounds. Both elders and juniors get involved in sporting activities especially during the weekend.

Specific plans are being taken in order to facilitate this sporting spree amongst the people of Haldia. Some even go to the extent in claiming that after Eden Gardens stadium in Calcutta, second "International Cricket Stadium" would be built in the Haldia city only. Here for development of football Two famous organizations , namely IFA(Indian Football Association) and TFA(Tata Football Academy) have started their operation in Haldia city with the aim of developing the sports of football in India.

What is really remarkable is that a new project called "Haldia International Sports City" is in its gestation period. Srei Capital is the developer and it is first of its kind in the whole of India. As per the terms of the project, Several buildings are to be built. For example, an International Cricket Stadium with all modern facilities having seating arrangements for 35000 people; an Indoor Stadium with a seating arrangement of five thousand. Other facilities include two practice grounds; a 50-meter swimming pool for sports; a "Sports Training Academy" with 100 rooms hostel. Gynasium , 13 storied reidentian buildings , heakth care facilities , shopping mall, an Entertainment Area.

Multiplex, Business Hotel, Office complexes with IT companies and lots more are to be built in the city of Haldia with in the time period of near about five years.

Presently, mainly to provide accommodation to several employees of several companies, the whole of the Haldia township can be segregated into twenty four clusters.

Durgachak that has been built in the heartland of Haldia, stores for shopping, offices, banks, govt offices, hotels all are situated here. People of various professions also have taken shelter here. There are four popular places in Durgachak of the Haldia city are - CPT Market,Super Market,New Market,Big Bazar(/Manjushree)& Millenium mall.