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About Beldih Club

The Beldih Club is undoubtedly Steel City Jamshedpur s most exclusive address. Spread over 4.85 acres of lush green the almost century-old establishment has kept pace with the development of the Steel City. It meets the needs of modern business travelers and citizens while retaining its old world charm and gracious hospitality.
Established in 1920 the Club is a part of the heritage of the Tata Group. Tata Steel has been its principal corporate patron since inception and legends such as N B Saklatwala Sir Ardeshir Dalal Sir Jehangir Ghandy and of course the ubiquitous JRD who served the Club in prominent capacities in their time have become an intrinsic part of the folklore and history of the Club. Mr. Ratan Tata is the present president of the club. The Beldih Club nurtured by German American and British residents of the Steel City among others through its early years reflects an exotic and pleasing fusion of east and west hospitality that endows it with a truly cosmopolitan and congenial character. The Club offers a haven for business guests catering exclusively to their comfort- the simple yet elegantly appointed rooms excellent business facilities carefully planned spaces spacious lounge with a lively ambience and a menu that offers a range of choices from hot soups to chilled desserts- all designed to reinvigorate the travel weary. Thoughtful personalised touches and attention to minute detail take every service be it serving the finest cuisine or decorating the happening resto-lounge and bar to new heights of excellence.
           

History of Club


The exact sequence of events or moment of Beldih Club’s birth and christening is wrapped in both enigma and conjecture but what is certain is that it came into existence with the first expansion of the Steel Works and the town immediately after the First World War.

The demand for building the largest steel plant in the British Empire attracted the finest technocrats from across the world, till then largely non-Indian. It resulted in an intermingling of cultures that evolved to create a unique amalgam characterising Jamshedpur.

At some point in the early 1920s, there was a proliferation of ethnic associations with venues allotted to celebrate social and cultural occasions. Beldih, we find, was clearly a place for non-Indians, the senior and top engineers and managers of the Company.

There was a distinct difference from the non-Indians who came to build and run the plant in its first decade and those who came as part of the first expansion programme. Tata Steel’s much-loved American General Manager from 1930 to 1938, John Lawrence Keenan, provides the closest to an explanation of why a new Club evolved despite the existence of Tata Institute (later United Club).

There are also many theories on how the Club got its name with the most plausible coming from its staff. “Dih” they say indicates high ground in the local language.

As the forests of Sakchi were cleared, these “dihs” were demarcated as sites suitable for new settlements, hence Bhuiya-dih, Bari-dih, Bel-dih, Dhatki-dih and Sonadih. Many of these settlements appear in F C Temple’s 1920 plan of Jamshedpur for the expansion of the town.

F C Temple, an engineer by profession, followed the natural contours of the land. He created a stately boulevard, Jamshedpur’s “Chowringhee”, from the eastern edge of the Steel Works and the city, locating its principle public amenities along it to its new residential area. As the boulevard rose to Bel-dih, the first and most important non-iron and steel making facility was the building for Tata Main Hospital, then an American Baptist Church, recreational spaces and rows of “commodious homes” all in consonance with Jamsetji Tata’s express wishes. Interestingly, all of these came up to the west of the plant to ensure that the westerly winds pushed the smoke and dust of the plant away from them. That Beldih Club was a part of this burst of construction is evident from John Keenan’s book.