In 1917, L.S.S.O’Malley described the coalfields in the upper reaches of the Damodar as follows: "Near the western boundary of Jharia field is that of Bokaro, covering" 220 square miles (570 km2), "with an estimated content of 1,500 million tons; close by… is the Ramgarh field (40 square miles), in which, however, coal is believed to be of inferior quality.

A still larger field in the same district is that called Karanpura, which extends over" 544 square miles (1,410 km2) "and has an estimated capacity of 9,000 million tons.

"[1] The Bokaro coalfield lies between 23° 45’ and 23° 50’ North latitude and 85° 30’ and 86° 03’ East longitude.

[3][4] West Bokaro Coalfield covers an area of 259 square kilometres (100 sq mi) and has total coal reserves of 4,246.30 million tonnes.

[5] Tata Steel owns and operates the open-cast West Bokaro colliery.