Technological obsolescence proved to be a bane for the Asansol industrial belt. As the British industrialists left, the Indian trading community, which took over the British-owned industries and mines, failed to handle the situation properly, leading to labour trouble and industrial decline. The government stepped in and took over the mining and many of the industrial activities. The non-coking coal industry was nationalised in 1973. The coalmines in the Ranigunj coalfields were placed under Eastern Coalfields Ltd., a subsidiary of Coal India limited, with its headquarters at Sanctoria.
The Indian Iron and Steel Co. Ltd., then the third largest private company in India, was taken over by the government on 14 July 1972. It was made a subsidiary of SAIL in 1979 and merged with SAIL in 2006. The overall decline in industrial activity continued and many of the factories have closed down.
The industrial growth that has taken place since the opening up of the Indian economy in 1991 has yet to make an impact on the Asansol industrial region. However, with the continued development of Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, activities in the Eastern Coalfields, and the sanction of major investment for the modernisation of the IISCO Steel Plant of SAIL, the area is looking up again.
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