Why does canal irrigation in Chhattisgarh concentrate in the central plain rather than on the plateau?

The plain is a basin suited to reservoirs, while the plateau's hard rock and slopes favour tanks

The plateau receives almost no rain at all, so no canal could ever carry water across it

Rice needs no standing water, so only the wheat-growing plain has any need for canals

The plain has no rivers of its own, so its reservoirs are filled by water brought from the sea

A district reports a net sown area of 200 thousand hectares, a gross cropped area of 260 thousand hectares and a net irrigated area of 80 thousand hectares. Which statement about it is correct?

Cropping intensity is 130 per cent and 40 per cent of the net sown area is irrigated

Cropping intensity is 77 per cent and 40 per cent of the net sown area is irrigated

Cropping intensity is 130 per cent and 31 per cent of the net sown area is irrigated

Cropping intensity is 160 per cent and 40 per cent of the net sown area is irrigated

Which agency mines the iron ore of the Bailadila range in southern Chhattisgarh, and which mines the Dalli-Rajhara ore for the Bhilai Steel Plant?

Bailadila by NMDC, Dalli-Rajhara by SAIL

Bailadila by SAIL, Dalli-Rajhara by NMDC

Bailadila by NMDC, Dalli-Rajhara by SAIL

Which factor best explains why the Bhilai Steel Plant was located in Durg district?

Nearness to the Dalli-Rajhara iron ore, with rail links to coal and a flat site

Nearness to the sea coast, which brings in cheap imported ore and coal by ship

Nearness to the Dalli-Rajhara iron ore, with rail links to coal and a flat site

Nearness to the bauxite of Mainpat, which is the raw material of steel

Nearness to the diamond fields of Gariaband and the tin belt of Bastar

The Kirandul-Kothavalasa railway line in southern Chhattisgarh is chiefly used to carry what, and towards which port?

Bailadila iron ore to Visakhapatnam

Korba coal to the port of Kolkata

Plains cement to the port of Mumbai

Bailadila iron ore to Visakhapatnam

Plains rice to the port of Chennai

Agriculture, Irrigation, Minerals, Energy, Industry and Transport of Chhattisgarh

This chapter answers the economic-geography half of Part 3 of Mains General Studies paper V (agriculture, irrigation projects, the state scheme for farmers' benefits, minerals, coal, thermal and non-conventional energy, industries by scale and base, means of transport and tourism) and Preliminary Paper I headings 5 and 7, “Economy, Forest and Agriculture” and “Industry in Chhattisgarh, Energy, Water and Mineral Resources”. It teaches region-to-resource maps and project lists, because the commission asks where things are. Production and capacity figures change every year, so the chapter gives locations and logic, and tells you where a figure needs its year and source.

1. Farming regions and crops

Agriculture is the main livelihood of the state, and rice is the dominant crop, which is why the central plain is called the rice bowl of the state. The state's agro-climatic regions follow its physical divisions, so the logic of the last chapter returns here.

Agro-climatic zones and crops
Zone	Area	Typical crops and note
Chhattisgarh plains	Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur and the Mahanadi plain, about half the state	Kharif rice on Dorsa and Kanhar; rabi wheat, gram, lathyrus (tiwda) and oilseeds where water allows; sugarcane in Kabirdham
Bastar plateau	South: Bastar and neighbouring districts	Upland rice, small millets (kodo, kutki), maize, niger and pulses on light soils
Northern hills	Surguja, Jashpur and neighbouring districts	Rice, maize, potato and vegetables on the pats, pulses and oilseeds

The crop calendar has three parts: kharif (sown with the monsoon, rice, maize, millets, pulses), rabi (sown after the rains on residual moisture or irrigation: wheat, gram, lathyrus, linseed, mustard) and a small zaid season. The state's rice is a farmer-wide asset: it grows a large number of local varieties, aromatic ones among them, and the agricultural university at Raipur (Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya) conserves them. Kodo and kutki are drought-hardy small millets of the upland, a point worth linking to nutrition and climate in a Mains answer.

ℹ️ Farmer-benefit schemes: teach the type, date the name

Every government renames or redesigns the input-subsidy and farmer-income schemes, so the name and year are perishable. The stable core is the type: paddy procured at the minimum support price through primary cooperative societies, interest-subsidised crop loans, input support per acre of paddy and other crops, crop insurance and farm-pond or irrigation support. Use a scheme card (year, department, beneficiary, benefit, status) and put the year in your answer or in the question.

2. Irrigation and water projects

Irrigation covers only a part of the net sown area, and most of it is surface water from canals fed by reservoirs on the Mahanadi system; the plateau and the hills depend on rain, tanks and wells. Rice needs standing water, so the plain's canal commands matter most for the rice economy. In a Mains answer, give the reason in terms of the physical logic: the plateau's hard rocks and slopes limit wells and favour tanks, whereas the plain's basin shape suits reservoirs and canals.

Major irrigation and water projects
Project	River	District	Note
Gangrel (Ravishankar Sagar)	Mahanadi	Dhamtari	Mahanadi Reservoir Project; also hydel power and Raipur-Bhilai water
Hasdeo Bango (Minimata Bango)	Hasdeo	Korba	Canals for Janjgir-Champa and Bilaspur plain; hydel power
Dudhawa	Mahanadi (upper)	Kanker (Dhamtari border)	Upper Mahanadi reservoir
Tandula	Tandula (Seonath tributary)	Balod	One of the older irrigation reservoirs of the plain
Sondur	Sondur (Mahanadi tributary)	Dhamtari	Right-bank reservoir in the Mahanadi system
Bodhghat (proposed)	Indravati	Bijapur	Long-pending multipurpose plan for Bastar; its status has changed with time

⚠️ A dam is named for a place, not always the river

Hasdeo Bango is on the Hasdeo, a tributary, not on the Mahanadi itself. Gangrel is on the Mahanadi. Tandula and Sondur are on rivers of the same names. When a question gives a dam and asks the river, recall the river of the same name or the district first, then the system.

3. Mineral belts

The state is one of the leading mineral states of the country: coal, iron ore, bauxite, limestone and dolomite lead by value, and it is the only state reporting production of tin concentrate in the Indian Bureau of Mines yearbooks (Indian Minerals Yearbook, 2021-22 data). Resources follow rocks, so the map is a region-to-resource map and not a list.

Mineral belts and where they lie
Mineral	Main areas	Note
Iron ore (haematite)	Bailadila (Dantewada-Bijapur region), Dalli-Rajhara (Balod), Rowghat (Narayanpur-Kanker)	Bailadila is mined by NMDC, Dalli-Rajhara by SAIL for Bhilai
Coal	Korba, Mand-Raigarh, Hasdeo-Arand, Koriya region (Chirimiri, Sonhat), Surajpur (Bisrampur)	Gondwana seams; mined mainly by South Eastern Coalfields (SECL), HQ Bilaspur
Bauxite	Mainpat (Surguja), Jashpur, Kabirdham (Bodai-Daldali), Kanker	Laterite caps on the Deccan trap; feeds the aluminium industry at Korba
Tin	Bastar-Dantewada belt (including Sukma district)	Only state reporting tin concentrate output (Indian Minerals Yearbook, 2021-22); a tin smelter at Jagdalpur
Limestone and dolomite	Raipur, Baloda Bazar, Durg, Rajnandgaon, Bilaspur, Janjgir-Champa, Raigarh	Chhattisgarh Supergroup rocks of the plain; basis of the cement cluster
Diamond	Gariaband (kimberlites near Behradih-Payalikhand)	Kimberlite pipes identified; production is not large-scale

Who mines and who regulates. Minerals are regulated under the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957, with the state government granting leases for most minerals and the Centre for coal block allocation. Mining companies pay royalty to the state, and the 2015 amendment of the Act created the District Mineral Foundation in each mining district to spend a share of mining revenue on the people and areas affected by mining. Public-sector miners include NMDC (iron ore), SAIL (Dalli-Rajhara), SECL (a Coal India subsidiary) and the state's own Chhattisgarh Mineral Development Corporation, which is among the producers of tin concentrate.

🧠 Rock to resource in one line

South and Dalli-Rajhara: iron and tin. North and Mahanadi valley: coal (Gondwana). Pats of the north and Kabirdham: bauxite. The central plain: limestone and cement. Gariaband: diamond.

4. Coal, power and renewable energy

Chhattisgarh ranked third among coal-bearing states by resource, after Odisha and Jharkhand, in the Ministry of Coal's state-wise listing as at 1 April 2023 (about 80,774 million tonnes against 94,519 for Odisha and 87,838 for Jharkhand); the order has shifted between inventory years, so use the rank only with that source and date. Korba is the coal-and-power heart, with the Kusmunda, Gevra and Dipka opencast mines (among the largest in India) and the NTPC Korba Super Thermal Power Station at Jamnipali, which draws its water from the Hasdeo and its coal from Kusmunda and Gevra. Other thermal centres are Sipat (Bilaspur, NTPC), Lara (Raigarh, NTPC), Marwa (Janjgir-Champa, state company) and the state generating company's Korba East and Korba West stations; a belt of private plants stands in Raigarh and Janjgir-Champa.

Thermal power centres (location, not capacity)
Station	District	Operator
Korba Super Thermal	Korba	NTPC
Sipat	Bilaspur	NTPC
Lara	Raigarh	NTPC
Marwa	Janjgir-Champa	State generating company
Korba East and West	Korba	State generating company

Hydel power is small: units at Hasdeo Bango, Gangrel and Sikasar use irrigation reservoirs. Renewable energy is promoted by the Chhattisgarh State Renewable Energy Development Agency (CREDA), with solar, small hydro and biomass (rice husk is plentiful in a rice state). The system is split into separate generation, transmission and distribution companies; the state sells surplus power outside. Every capacity and production figure is perishable: state the year and the source, such as the Economic Survey or the Central Electricity Authority.

🎯 Why coal, power and forest collide

Much coal lies under dense forest in the north, notably the Hasdeo-Arand country, which is also elephant habitat and tribal land. This is the central trade-off a Mains answer must weigh: revenue, jobs and power for the nation against forest loss, displacement and elephant conflict. Mention the Forest Rights Act and the PESA principle of village consent when you discuss it.

5. Industry by base and scale

Industry sits where the raw material is. By base: mineral-based (steel, sponge iron, aluminium, cement, power), agro-based (rice milling, a very large cluster around Raipur and Dhamtari, plus oil and sugar), and forest-based (tendu leaf and bidi, lac, Kosa silk, bamboo and sal-seed products). By scale: large units (steel, aluminium, power, cement), medium, and a wide base of micro and small units and handicraft clusters.

Industrial centres
Centre	District	Basis
Bhilai Steel Plant	Durg	Set up with Soviet collaboration; ore from Dalli-Rajhara; first large integrated steel plant in the state
BALCO	Korba	Aluminium; bauxite from Mainpat and Kabirdham, power from Korba; began as a public-sector company and was later disinvested
Siltara and Urla	Raipur	Sponge iron, steel rolling, ferro-alloys and rice-mill clusters
Cement belt	Raipur, Baloda Bazar, Durg, Bilaspur	Limestone of the plain
Kosa silk	Janjgir-Champa, Raigarh	Tasar-type silk weaving; a forest-and-craft industry

The state's industrial policy is revised every few years and offers capital subsidy, power and stamp-duty concessions and land banks, so quote the policy period when you refer to it. The Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corporation develops industrial areas, and the new capital, Nava Raipur Atal Nagar, was planned as a city of institutions and offices. Mineral-based industry brings revenue (royalty, District Mineral Foundation funds) and also the dilemma of Section 4 above.

6. Transport and connectivity

Railways. The state lies largely under the South East Central Railway, headquartered at Bilaspur, and it is a very heavy freight region because coal, iron ore, steel and cement move out of it. The main trunk is the Mumbai-Howrah line through Durg, Raipur and Bilaspur. In the south, the Kirandul-Kothavalasa line carries Bailadila iron ore to the port at Visakhapatnam.

Roads and air. National Highway 53 (Hazira to Paradeep, following the old Surat-Kolkata corridor) crosses the plain through Rajnandgaon, Durg, Raipur and Mahasamund towards Odisha; other national highways link Raipur with Bilaspur and Raigarh in the north and with Jagdalpur and Bastar in the south. The south and north are weakly connected, which matters for tribal and Left-wing-affected districts. Swami Vivekananda Airport at Raipur is the main air gateway, with scheduled services at Bilaspur, Jagdalpur and Ambikapur as well; flight networks change often, so date them. Tourism links transport to place: Chitrakote and Tirathgarh falls, the Kanger caves, Mainpat and the Bhoramdeo temples are the circuits examiners use.

⚠️ Bilaspur versus Raipur

Raipur is the capital and the main airport; Bilaspur is the railway zone headquarters and the seat of the High Court. Questions deliberately offer Raipur as the railway-zone HQ.

Key takeaways

Rice dominates; zones follow relief: plains (rice, wheat, gram, lathyrus, sugarcane in Kabirdham), Bastar plateau (upland rice, kodo-kutki, maize, niger), northern hills (rice, maize, potato). Scheme names change, so date them.
Irrigation is mostly canal water from Mahanadi-system reservoirs: Gangrel (Mahanadi, Dhamtari), Hasdeo Bango (Hasdeo, Korba), Dudhawa, Tandula, Sondur; Bodhghat on the Indravati is a long-pending plan.
Region to resource: iron at Bailadila (NMDC) and Dalli-Rajhara (SAIL); coal at Korba, Mand-Raigarh, Hasdeo-Arand and Koriya (SECL); bauxite on the northern pats and Kabirdham; tin in the Bastar belt (only state reporting tin concentrate output, Indian Minerals Yearbook 2021-22); limestone in the plain; diamond kimberlites in Gariaband.
Power is coal-thermal at Korba, Sipat, Lara and Marwa, with small hydel units and CREDA-promoted renewables. Chhattisgarh was third in coal resources behind Odisha and Jharkhand (Ministry of Coal, as at 1 April 2023); coal under forest is the central trade-off.
Industry: Bhilai steel (Durg), BALCO aluminium (Korba), Siltara-Urla (Raipur), cement in the plain, Kosa silk in Janjgir-Champa and Raigarh, and rice milling. Classify by base (mineral, agro, forest) and by scale.
South East Central Railway has its HQ at Bilaspur, not Raipur; Kirandul-Kothavalasa carries Bailadila ore to Visakhapatnam; NH 53 crosses the plain from Durg through Raipur towards Odisha; Raipur has the main airport.

Practice questions (18)

Attempt each one before opening the answer. Every explanation names the tempting wrong option as well as the right one, because that is where marks are lost.

Which crop is the dominant kharif crop of Chhattisgarh, giving its central plain the name of the state's rice bowl?
1. Rice
2. Maize
3. Sugarcane
4. Wheat
Show answer
Answer: A — Rice
Rice is grown on the Dorsa and Kanhar soils of the plain with canal water. Wheat is the tempting alternative because it is a major rabi crop of the irrigated plain, but it is not the dominant crop.
Consider the following statements about farming in Chhattisgarh. P: Kodo and kutki are small millets of the upland. Q: Lathyrus (tiwda) is a rabi crop grown after the rice harvest. R: The Bastar plateau is the main wheat-growing region of the state. S: Sugarcane is grown in Kabirdham district. Which are correct?
1. P and Q only
2. P, Q and S only
3. Q, R and S only
4. P, R and S only
Show answer
Answer: B — P, Q and S only
P, Q and S are correct. R is false: wheat belongs to the irrigated plain, while the Bastar plateau grows upland rice, millets, maize and niger. The pair P and Q is tempting but omits the true statement S.
Which of the following dam-river pairs is NOT correct?
1. Gangrel - Mahanadi
2. Sondur - Sondur
3. Hasdeo Bango - Mahanadi
4. Tandula - Tandula
Show answer
Answer: C — Hasdeo Bango - Mahanadi
Hasdeo Bango is built on the Hasdeo, a tributary of the Mahanadi, not on the Mahanadi itself. Gangrel is on the Mahanadi in Dhamtari district; Sondur and Tandula are on rivers of those names. The Mahanadi pairing is tempting because the Hasdeo drains into it.
Why does canal irrigation in Chhattisgarh concentrate in the central plain rather than on the plateau?
1. The plain is a basin suited to reservoirs, while the plateau's hard rock and slopes favour tanks
2. The plateau receives almost no rain at all, so no canal could ever carry water across it
3. Rice needs no standing water, so only the wheat-growing plain has any need for canals
4. The plain has no rivers of its own, so its reservoirs are filled by water brought from the sea
Show answer
Answer: A — The plain is a basin suited to reservoirs, while the plateau's hard rock and slopes favour tanks
Reservoirs and canals work where a basin collects water and the land is gentle, as on the Mahanadi plain. The statement that the plateau gets no rain is wrong: it is a high-rainfall part of the state, but its ground does not suit command areas.
A district reports a net sown area of 200 thousand hectares, a gross cropped area of 260 thousand hectares and a net irrigated area of 80 thousand hectares. Which statement about it is correct?
1. Cropping intensity is 130 per cent and 40 per cent of the net sown area is irrigated
2. Cropping intensity is 77 per cent and 40 per cent of the net sown area is irrigated
3. Cropping intensity is 130 per cent and 31 per cent of the net sown area is irrigated
4. Cropping intensity is 160 per cent and 40 per cent of the net sown area is irrigated
Show answer
Answer: A — Cropping intensity is 130 per cent and 40 per cent of the net sown area is irrigated
Cropping intensity is gross cropped area divided by net sown area: 260 / 200 = 130 per cent. The irrigated share is 80 / 200 = 40 per cent. Dividing by the gross area gives 31 per cent, which is the tempting error because the figures are close.
Which agency mines the iron ore of the Bailadila range in southern Chhattisgarh, and which mines the Dalli-Rajhara ore for the Bhilai Steel Plant?
1. Bailadila by SAIL, Dalli-Rajhara by NMDC
2. Bailadila by NMDC, Dalli-Rajhara by SAIL
3. Both by NMDC
4. Both by SECL
Show answer
Answer: B — Bailadila by NMDC, Dalli-Rajhara by SAIL
NMDC works Bailadila and SAIL works Dalli-Rajhara for its Bhilai plant. The swapped pairing is the standard trap. SECL is a Coal India subsidiary and mines coal, not iron ore.
Match the mineral with its belt.
(i) Tin
(ii) Diamond-bearing kimberlite
(iii) Iron ore for Bhilai
(iv) Bauxite. Belts: a. Gariaband; b. Dalli-Rajhara; c. Bastar-Dantewada; d. Mainpat and Kabirdham.
Choose the correct pairing.
1. (i)-a, (ii)-c, (iii)-b, (iv)-d
2. (i)-c, (ii)-b, (iii)-a, (iv)-d
3. (i)-c, (ii)-a, (iii)-d, (iv)-b
4. (i)-c, (ii)-a, (iii)-b, (iv)-d
Show answer
Answer: D — (i)-c, (ii)-a, (iii)-b, (iv)-d
Tin lies in the Bastar-Dantewada belt, diamond-bearing kimberlites in Gariaband, Bhilai's iron ore at Dalli-Rajhara and bauxite at Mainpat and Kabirdham. A common slip pairs tin with Gariaband because both are rarer minerals than coal and iron.
Which of the following is NOT a coalfield of Chhattisgarh?
1. Korba
2. Mand-Raigarh
3. Bailadila
4. Hasdeo-Arand
Show answer
Answer: C — Bailadila
Bailadila is an iron ore range in the south. Korba, Mand-Raigarh and Hasdeo-Arand are Gondwana coalfields. Bailadila is the tempting wrong item because learners recall it as the best-known mining name of the state.
According to the Indian Bureau of Mines (Indian Minerals Yearbook, 2021-22 data), which state was the only one reporting production of tin concentrate?
1. Odisha
2. Chhattisgarh
3. Jharkhand
4. Karnataka
Show answer
Answer: B — Chhattisgarh
Tin ore is worked in the Bastar-Dantewada belt of Chhattisgarh. Odisha is the tempting distractor because a Malkangiri tin occurrence lies near the Bastar boundary, but it does not produce concentrate.
In the Ministry of Coal's state-wise listing of coal resources as at 1 April 2023, Chhattisgarh ranked third. Which two states rank above it?
1. Jharkhand and West Bengal
2. Odisha and West Bengal
3. Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh
4. Odisha and Jharkhand
Show answer
Answer: D — Odisha and Jharkhand
Odisha and Jharkhand hold larger resources. West Bengal is the tempting distractor because its Raniganj coalfield is historically famous, but its resource base is smaller than Chhattisgarh's in that listing.
The NTPC Korba Super Thermal Power Station draws its cooling water from which river?
1. Mahanadi
2. Seonath
3. Hasdeo
4. Indravati
Show answer
Answer: C — Hasdeo
The plant at Jamnipali, Korba, uses water of the Hasdeo, and coal from the nearby Kusmunda and Gevra mines. The Mahanadi is tempting as the parent river, but the plant sits on the Hasdeo.
Match the thermal power station with its district.
(i) Sipat
(ii) Lara
(iii) Marwa
(iv) Korba Super Thermal. Districts: a. Janjgir-Champa; b. Korba; c. Bilaspur; d. Raigarh.
Choose the correct pairing.
1. (i)-c, (ii)-d, (iii)-a, (iv)-b
2. (i)-d, (ii)-c, (iii)-a, (iv)-b
3. (i)-c, (ii)-d, (iii)-b, (iv)-a
4. (i)-a, (ii)-d, (iii)-c, (iv)-b
Show answer
Answer: A — (i)-c, (ii)-d, (iii)-a, (iv)-b
Sipat is in Bilaspur, Lara in Raigarh, Marwa in Janjgir-Champa and the Korba Super Thermal in Korba. Learners often put Marwa in Korba because of its coal-belt location.
Which of the following industry-centre pairs is correct?
1. Bhilai Steel Plant - Bilaspur
2. BALCO aluminium - Raigarh
3. Bhilai Steel Plant - Durg
4. Tin smelter - Raipur
Show answer
Answer: C — Bhilai Steel Plant - Durg
Bhilai Steel Plant stands at Bhilai in Durg district. BALCO is at Korba, and the tin smelter is at Jagdalpur in Bastar. Bilaspur is the tempting district for steel because it is the railway headquarters.
Which factor best explains why the Bhilai Steel Plant was located in Durg district?
1. Nearness to the sea coast, which brings in cheap imported ore and coal by ship
2. Nearness to the Dalli-Rajhara iron ore, with rail links to coal and a flat site
3. Nearness to the bauxite of Mainpat, which is the raw material of steel
4. Nearness to the diamond fields of Gariaband and the tin belt of Bastar
Show answer
Answer: B — Nearness to the Dalli-Rajhara iron ore, with rail links to coal and a flat site
Steel needs iron ore and coal; Dalli-Rajhara ore lies close, the main rail line crosses the plain and the site is flat. Bauxite is for aluminium, and the state is landlocked, so the sea explanation is wrong.
The South East Central Railway has its headquarters at which city of Chhattisgarh?
1. Raipur
2. Durg
3. Jagdalpur
4. Bilaspur
Show answer
Answer: D — Bilaspur
The zone is headquartered at Bilaspur. Raipur is the tempting answer because it is the capital and main airport, but the zone and the High Court seat are at Bilaspur.
The Kirandul-Kothavalasa railway line in southern Chhattisgarh is chiefly used to carry what, and towards which port?
1. Korba coal to the port of Kolkata
2. Plains cement to the port of Mumbai
3. Bailadila iron ore to Visakhapatnam
4. Plains rice to the port of Chennai
Show answer
Answer: C — Bailadila iron ore to Visakhapatnam
The line takes Bailadila iron ore from Kirandul to the Visakhapatnam port side. Coal moves on the northern trunk, and the Kirandul line is the ore line, so coal to Kolkata is the tempting but wrong choice.
Kosa silk weaving is most associated with which pair of districts of Chhattisgarh?
1. Janjgir-Champa and Raigarh
2. Bijapur and Narayanpur
3. Dantewada and Sukma
4. Durg and Rajnandgaon
Show answer
Answer: A — Janjgir-Champa and Raigarh
Champa in Janjgir-Champa and Raigarh are the known Kosa weaving centres. Durg-Rajnandgaon is an industrial and farming area, and the southern districts are forest-and-tribal districts, so they are the tempting alternatives.
Consider the following statements about minerals and energy in Chhattisgarh. P: Coal seams of the state lie in Gondwana sediments. Q: The NTPC Sipat station is in Raigarh district. R: Bailadila iron ore is mined by NMDC. S: Diamond-bearing kimberlites have been identified in Gariaband district. Which are correct?
1. P, Q and R only
2. Q and S only
3. P, R and S only
4. P and S only
Show answer
Answer: C — P, R and S only
P, R and S are correct. Q is false: Sipat is in Bilaspur district, while Raigarh has the NTPC Lara station. The pair P and S is tempting but leaves out R, which is also true.