This plant is located in the coal rich and densely populated region of the Ganga plain near the confluence of the Bokaro and the Damodar rivers in Hazaribag district of Jharkhand. The plant was erected with the Russian collaboration in 1964 (production started in October, 1972).
The plant draws its coal from Bokaro, Kargali and Jharia coal-fields; iron ore from the Kiriburu mines in Keonjhar district; limestone from Bhavantpur and Daltonganj in Palamau district;dolomite from Bilaspur district (Chhattisgarh); water from the Tenu dam across the Damodar river; and cheap power from the DVC. It is nearer to the industrial regions of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Bokaro is basically a flat products plant and the hot and cold rolling mills are its chief production units.
The plant had an initial capacity of 17 lakh tones of ingot steel which has been recently enhanced to 40 lakh tones. In 1996-97 it produced 2.61 lakh tones of pig iron, 36.44 lakh tones of crude steel and 30.46 lakh tones of saleable steel. Its sludge and slag are being used in making fertilizers at Sindri.