Team News Riveting
Bhilai, July 5
The intersection in front of the Main Gate of SAIL-Bhilai Steel Plant, where stands the monument of friendship, in the shape of a black-stone obelisk erected in commemoration of the Indo-Soviet partnership in the construction and commissioning of SAIL-Bhilai Steel Plant, is being further beautified and renovated by the BSP management.
The radius of this intersection will be reduced by 1.5 meters, ensuring a smoother passage of traffic and reducing the chances of accidents. The beautification and renovation work of this traffic square near BSP’s Main Gate and overlooking Ispat Bhawan and HRD Centre was initiated on 04th July 2024.
The iron railing around this obelisk will be removed and flower beds inside the circumference would be upgraded with a plantation of beautiful flowering plants, to enhance its aesthetics. The damaged portions of road around the intersection will also be repaired and re-carpeted to ensure road safety. Bhilai Steel Plant is working on several projects for the beautification of the steel city and the improvement of civic amenities. Under these projects, along with the repair of roads, renovation of crossroads, and up-gradation of various parks have also been taken up in the township.
Although Bhilai itself is a symbol of India-Soviet Union friendship, there are many such commemorative monuments here, which were built as memorial of the friendship between the two countries. The foundation stone of the first and only tapering stone pillar (obelisk) monument was laid on 26th February 1961 by Shri. Alexei Nikolayevich Kosygin, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union, during his visit to Bhilai. Several prominent personalities were present on this occasion, including Shri. S. Skachkov, the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Economic Affairs of the Soviet Union, Shri. S. Dutt, the Indian Ambassador to the Soviet Union, Shri. Purtej Singh Chief Engineer of Bhilai Steel Plant, and Shri. Tarachand Hemchand Vachhani, Executive Engineer of Bhilai Steel Plant, among others.
This monument was completed in a year and was inaugurated on 23rd February 1962 by Ivan Aleksandrovich Benediktov, the then Ambassador of the Soviet Union to India. Benediktov stated in his message in the souvenir published on the occasion of the completion of 10 years of Indo-Soviet friendship, “Bhilai is a living symbol of the people of India and Soviet Union. I felt immensely proud to inaugurate the Indo-Russian Friendship Obelisk in Bhilai”. On one side of the obelisk is a quote from the then Prime Minister of the Soviet Union, Khrushchev, “May the friendship between India and Russia be as strong as the steel of Bhilai”. On the other side is a quote from the then-Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, “Bhilai is a symbol of the auspicious solace of India’s future”.
This memorial pillar is a symbol of the economic and technological Indo-Soviet partnership in the construction of steel plant in India. This monument in Bhilai is a firm step towards the long-standing friendship between the people of India and the USSR and a benchmark of the collective efforts of the two countries. Today, it is due to this friendship and cordial cooperation, that the Bhilai Steel Plant has become one of the largest steel plants, not only in India but in the whole of Asia.
An agreement was signed in 1955 for the establishment of the Bhilai Steel Plant with the collaboration of the USSR (former Soviet Union). The reason behind choosing Bhilai for the steel plant was the easy availability of raw materials required for the manufacture of steel in the nearby areas, and rail connectivity.
Bhilai, a small village, hardly known beyond the district boundary, emerged on the world map on March 14, 1956, when it was finally selected as the site for an integrated iron and steel plant. With its technical and financial performance, Bhilai has established itself at the forefront of the Indian Steel Industry and is contributing significantly to the development of the country with its achievements.
