Which of the following iron and Steel plants is not close to the raw material area?

The correct answer is D, Salem. Salem Steel Plant is the one that does not sit in the classic iron-and-coal belt. Its iron ore comes from nearby hills, but it has no coking coal field close by, so its coal has to be brought in from far away. That breaks the basic logic of a raw-material-oriented steel plant.

• Jamshedpur (A): TISCO sits between the iron ore belt of Singhbhum and the coal fields of Jharia and Bokaro. It is a textbook raw-material-oriented plant.
• Rourkela (B): Set up in Sundargarh with German collaboration, it draws iron ore from the Koira and Gurumahisani belt and coal from Talcher and Jharia. It is close to both inputs.
• Durgapur (C): It lies on the edge of the Raniganj coalfield, so coal is near. Its iron ore does come from farther away, but it is still counted in the eastern coal-based group.

The core concept is weight-losing versus weight-gaining industries. Steel is a weight-losing industry because about 1.5 to 2 tonnes of ore and coal go into one tonne of steel, which is why plants cluster near inputs. This links to the Mains theme of industrial location and regional imbalance in the eastern region.

Trap: Aspirants see "Durgapur" and assume it is far from raw materials because it is not in the iron ore zone. Check coal and ore separately before deciding which plant is the outlier.