Godda is a town with a

municipal council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough cou ...

in the Godda subdivision of the Godda district in

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. It is also the administrative headquarters of the Godda district.

Geography

Location

Godda is located at . It has an average elevation of 77 metres (252 feet). Godda came into existence as the 55th district of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

on 25 May 1983. After the bifurcation of Bihar into

state on 15 November 2000, it was one of 18 districts of Jharkhand.

Overview

Godda lies in a hilly area with the Rajmahal hills running from the bank of the

Ganges The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...

from north to south. It is close to the Farakka Barrage, just inside West Bengal; the Rajmahal coalfield is also nearby. The area around Godda is overwhelmingly rural with only small pockets of urbanisation.

Demographics

Population

According to the 2011 Census of India, Godda had a total population of 48,480, of which 25,707 (53%) were males and 22,773 (47%) were females. The population in the age range 0–6 years was 6,745. The total number of literate persons in Godda was 41,735 (84.30% of the population over 6 years).

Infrastructure

According to the ''District Census Handbook 2011, Godda'', the urban area of Godda covered an area of 8.59 km². Panjwara Road railway station on the Dumka-Bhagalpur line is 20 km away. Among the civic amenities, the town had 17.1 km roads with open drains. The protected water supply includes hand pumps, and uncovered wells. Residences in Godda have 7,319 domestic electric connections, and there are 350 road light points around the town.

Economy

Traditionally, Godda produced pattal (leaf plates), and furniture. During the late 20th century, Godda saw industrialization and many major industrial projects came to the town. Jindal Steel & Powers at Tesubathan ( Sunderpahari) constructed a 1320 MW capacity thermal power plant.

Adani Power Adani Power Limited is an Indian multinational power and energy company, subsidiary of Adani Group and based in Khodiyar in Ahmedabad, India. It is a private thermal power producer, with a capacity of 15,250 MW and operates a mega solar plan ...

is establishing its 1600 MW thermal power plant at Godda and it will become India's first power sector

Special Economic Zone A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

. Rajmahal Coal Mining Ltd, a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Groups operates the mine of Eastern Coalfields at Mahagama.

Administration

Education

Transport

Roadways

* NH 133 * NH 333A

Railway

The Godda railway station is situated around 4 km from the city centre. Humsafar Express was the first train to depart from the Godda railway station on 8 April 2021.

Airways

* Bhagalpur Airport situated in Bhagalpur (Bihar) is the nearest airport (is 65 Km away from Godda). * Dumka Airport is 86 Km away from Godda. * Deoghar Airport is 87 Km away from Godda. * Jay Prakash Narayan Airport,

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

is 291 Km away from Godda. * Birsa Munda Airport,

Ranchi Ranchi (; ) is the capital city and also the largest district by population of the Indian state of Jharkhand. Ranchi was the centre of the Jharkhand movement, which called for a separate state for the tribal regions of South Bihar, northern ...

is 331 Km away from Godda.

Notable people

* Bhagwat Jha Azad: Former chief minister of Bihar * Rameshwar Thakur: Former governor of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...

* Kirti Azad: Former cricketer, Team India. * Rashmi Jha: Bollywood actress * Bhumika Chawla: Bollywood actress *

Hemant Choudhary Hemant Choudhary is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi serials, films and web series. Early life and career Hemant Choudhary was born in Godda, a small town in Jharkhand and brought up in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand. He completed his later ed ...

: Hindi TV and Bollywood actor * Anil Kumar Jha: Former chairman,

Coal India Limited Coal India Limited (CIL) is an Indian public sector undertaking and the largest government-owned coal producer in the world. Headquartered in Kolkata, it is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Coal, Government of India. It acc ...

* Pradeep Yadav: MLA, Poreyahat * Dipika Pandey Singh: MLA, Mahagama * Raghu Nandan Mandal: Former MLA, Godda * Amit Kumar Mandal: MLA, Godda

References

External links

Godda Administration Website
() {{Santhal Parganas Division Cities and towns in Anga Desh Cities and towns in Godda district