What are the causes of decline …

The decline of the Indian iron smelting industry has following reasons: (i) The main reason was the forest laws which were formed by the British Government in India. Through these laws, when the colonial British government prevented people from entering the reserved forests, it became very difficult for the iron smelters to find wood for charcoal and to get iron ore. (ii) In some areas, the. government did grant access to the forest. But the iron smelters had to pay a very high tax to the forest department for every furnace they used. This adversely affected their income or earnings. (iii) By the late nineteenth century iron and steel was being imported from Britain. Iron smiths in India began using the imported iron to manufacturing utensils and implements. This inevitably lowered the demand for iron produced by local smelters. (iv) By the early twentieth century, the artisans producing iron and steel faced a new competition.