Bilaspur
City, the district headquarter of Bilaspur District, is the biggest urban center (town/city) of the region.
Bilaspur is the second largest city of
Chhattisgarh state. Situated on the banks of River Arpa, Bilaspur is 114 kms from state's capital towards the north-east.
Chhattisgarh High Court was is setup in Bilaspur simultaneously on 1st November 2000 when the Chhattisgarh State was constituted, by viritue of which Bilaspur is also referred to as Nayaydhani (न्यायधानी -
"legal" capital) of Chhattisgarh State.
The local administration body of the city is Bilaspur Nagar Nigam - Bilaspur Municipal Corporation. Bilaspur has 55 wards. Each ward elects a corporator for a tenure of 5 years.
Bilaspur has an history of about 400 odd years and was named after a beautiful fisherwoman Bilasa. In those days Ratanpur was the capital and the modern day Bilaspur used to be a small settlement on the banks of River Arpa.
There are two tales related to the fisherwoman.
The first tale has wider acceptance. According to it, the king had taken fancy for Bilasa a young beautiful fisherwoman during a trip in this part of his kingdom.
Bilasa refused to surrender to the wishes of the king and burnt herself alive. From then on the king would refer to this place as Bilasa ki nagari (बिलासा की नगरी) which later on became Bilaspur.
The second story speaks about a revolt by fishermen of the region under the leadership of Bilasa. The revolt was crushed by the king and Bilasa was killed.
The foundation for modern Bilaspur city was laid in late 19th century when the Bengal Nagpur Railway was being constructed and Bilaspur was selected as a major station and a divisional headquarter.
The economy of the region has traditionally been agriculture based. The region is one of the top producers of paddy
. So much so that it is often referred to as the "धान का कटोरा Dhaan Ka Katora" (bowl of rice).
With exploitation of the vast mineral reserves that have been found in the region, mining and its associated industries have gained prominenence as an important economic activity.
Most of the industrial and commercial activities of the region revolve around the wide variety of mineral resources that are available in abundance in the vicinity of Bilaspur.
Bilaspur is the headquarters of South Eastern Coalfields Ltd. (SECL), Coal India's highest revenue earner. South East Central Railway (SECR), which is the largest revenue earning zone of the country, is located at Bilaspur.
National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. (NTPC) is preparing to commence operations at its Super Thermal power project which on maturity will deliver about 2400 MW of electric power to the national power grid.
Many companies big and small have there manufacturing / production units in and around Bilaspur. Companies in thermal power, aluminum, cement, sponge iron sectors etc. are located here and are doing good.
The anciliary, allied and support industries have also bloomed and flourished in the quest to meet the requirements of the changing times.
Bilaspur became a popular destination on the medical tourism map when SECL conceived and constructed an ultra modern 250 bed hospital and handed it for management to Apollo Hospital. Apollo Hospital Bilaspur is a multi-speciality health facility located at Lingyadih.
