Singrauli District is the 50th administrative district of Madhya Pradesh. It was given the status of an independent district on 24th of May 2008, with its headquarters at Waidhan town. Singrauli District was formed after dividing it from Sidhi District. This district covers an area of 5,672 square kilometres.
Singrauli District is fast emerging as the power hub of the country, especially for electricity and coal and, therefore, locally it is called as `Urjanchal` (which literally means land of energy). The total installed capacity of all thermal power plants at Singrauli District is around 10 percent of the total installed capacity of the country. Hanuman Mandir, Jwala Mukhi Mandir, Gayatri temple and Shiva Temple are some of the popular temples of the area.
History of Singrauli District
The area in the eastern part of Madhya Pradesh and the adjoining southern part of Sonbhadra District in the state of Uttar Pradesh is collectively known as Singrauli. The place, earlier known as Shringavali, is named after Sage Shringi. Once upon a time it was covered with dense forests and inhabited by wild animals. The place was considered so treacherous that it was used by the Kings of Rewa district, who ruled the area until the year 1947, as an open-air prison for detaining errant civilians and officers.
Administration of Singrauli District
Administration of Singrauli District has three tehsils namely Singrauli, Devsar and Chitrangi. It has three development blocks by the same name. Singrauli District covers an area of 5672 sq km. Singrauli town is a Municipal Corporation with a population of about two lakh. The population of Singrauli District is about 11 lakh.
There are several industries in Singrauli District. In the late fifties, a large-scale dam banked up the water of the Rihand River. There is a dam called Govind Vallabh Pant Sagar Dam was inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1962. Later, rich coal deposits spread over an area of 2200 sq km in the state. The major industries of Singrauli District include Northern Coalfields Ltd, NTPC, Reliance Industries Ltd, JP Power, Hindalco Industries and MP State Mining Corporation Ltd. In fact, the major business of the region is Northern Coalfields Ltd. It has its headquarters located at Singrauli.
