Raipur became Chhattisgarh's capital when the state was born
Raipur is capital and largest city of Chhattisgarh, India, and headquarters of its district and division. It belonged to Madhya Pradesh until Chhattisgarh formed on 1 November 2000 and remains the region's main commercial hub with rapid urban growth.
Industry is its engine. The city ranks among India's largest producers of steel and iron, counting at least six steel plants, roughly 200 rolling mills, 195 units making sponge iron, 35 ferro-alloy works, 60 plywood factories and 500 agro industries, plus more than 800 rice mills. That last figure fits the setting: Raipur lies near the middle of a broad plain nicknamed the rice bowl of India, with the Mahanadi River to the east, dense forest to the south and the Maikal Hills to the northwest.
The region, once called Dakshina Kosala, is thought to have fallen under the Maurya Empire, and a 6th-century Gupta inscription at nearby Arang records Gupta control. The Kalachuris took over by the early 9th century; by the 14th a Raipur branch rose, and one of its kings reportedly captured 18 enemy forts, a tale offered to explain the name Chhattisgarh, 36 forts.
The 2011 census counted 1,010,433 people in the municipal corporation, with 945 females per 1,000 males, above the national figure. Summers can top 48 degrees Celsius in April and May, about 1,300 millimetres of rain falls mostly in the monsoon, and winter nights can drop to 5 degrees. The British founded the municipal committee on 17 May 1867; it became a corporation in 1973 and now covers 503.67 square kilometres. In 2024 Raipur placed eighth among large cities in the national clean-air rankings.
Source: Raipur
