Godda

Godda is a town with a municipal council in the subdivision of the district of the same name in Jharkhand, India. It is the headquarters of the Godda district.

Location
Godda is located at 24.83°N, 87.22°W. It has an average elevation of 77 metres (252 feet). Godda came into existence as the 55th district of Bihar on 25 May 1983. After the bifurcation of Bihar into Jharkhand state on 15 November 2000, it was one of 18 districts of Jharkhand.

Overview
Godda lies in a hilly area with the Rajmahal hills running from the bank of the Ganges from north to south. It is close to the Farakka Barrage, just inside West Bengal; the Rajmahal coalfield is also nearby. The area around Godda is overwhelmingly rural with only small pockets of urbanisation.

Population
According to the 2011 Census of India, Godda had a total population of 48,480, of which 25,707 (53%) were males and 22,773 (47%) were females. The population in the age range 0–6 years was 6,745. The total number of literate persons in Godda was 41,735 (84.30% of the population over 6 years).

Infrastructure
According to the District Census Handbook 2011, Godda, the urban area of Godda covered an area of 8.59 km2. Panjwara Road railway station on the Dumka-Bhagalpur line is 20 km away. Among the civic amenities, the town had 17.1 km roads with open drains. The protected water supply includes hand pumps, and uncovered wells. Residences in Godda have 7,319 domestic electric connections, and there are 350 road light points around the town.

Economy
Traditionally, Godda produced pattal (leaf plates), and furniture. During the late 20th century, Godda saw industrialization and many major industrial projects came to the town. Jindal Steel & Powers at Tesubathan (Sunderpahari) constructed a 1320 MW capacity thermal power plant. Adani Power is establishing its 1600 MW thermal power plant at Godda and it will become India's first power sector Special Economic Zone.

Rajmahal Coal Mining Ltd, a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Groups operates the mine of Eastern Coalfields at Mahagama.

Railway
The Godda railway station is situated around 4 km from the city centre. Humsafar Express was the first train to depart from the Godda railway station on 8 April 2021.

Notable people

 * Bhagwat Jha Azad: Former chief minister of Bihar
 * Rameshwar Thakur: Former governor of Madhya Pradesh
 * Kirti Azad: Former cricketer, Team India.
 * Rashmi Jha: Bollywood actress
 * Bhumika Chawla: Bollywood actress
 * Hemant Choudhary: Hindi TV and Bollywood actor
 * Anil Kumar Jha: Former chairman, Coal India Limited
 * Pradeep Yadav: MLA, Poreyahat
 * Dipika Pandey Singh: MLA, Mahagama
 * Raghu Nandan Mandal: Former MLA, Godda
 * Amit Kumar Mandal: MLA, Godda