Chandrapur is a city and a municipal corporation in Chandrapur district in the state of Maharashtra, India. It is also the headquarters of Chandrapur district. As the city has passed the population limit of 3 lakh, with the population of 3.73 lakh as per 2011 census, in a decision made on 20th Oct, 2011 by the state cabinet, Chandrapur municipal council is elevated to the D-grade Municipal Corporation status,[1] along with Latur and Parbhani in the state.
The city of Chandrapur has ancient temples of the goddess Mahakali and of Anchaleshwar, a form of the god Shiva. Chandrapur is also known as Chanda. The region is very rich in mineral wealth such as iron ore, limestone and coal. Many cement factories are located in this region. Due to large number of coal mines present around the city, the city is also known as City of Black Gold.
Narsimha Rao, a prime minister of India, was stationed at Chandrapur during the days when Nizam ruled Hyderabad. Rao got admission to Nagpur on recommendations of one of the prominent advocates of the region, Balwantrao Deshmukh. Balwantrao Deshmukh was a follower of Bal Gangadhar Tilak. It was due to his efforts that Tilak visited Chandrapur and laid the foundation stone of a school "Lokmanya Tilak Vidyalaya". Shantaram Potdukhe, one of the ministers of state having charge of finance portfolio in Narasimha Rao's government, is from Chandrapur.. Mohan Bhagwat, senior functionary of Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, is also from Chandrapur
