Ichapore

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Ichapore (also written as Ichapur) (In Bengali: ইছাপুর) is an Indian city near Barrackpore, by the River Ganges. This is a small city, most famous for two ordnance factories, viz., rifle factory and a metal & steel factory. The rifle factory makes rifles and guns for the defence sector and recreational purposes. The city has a population of around 100,000 and is densely populated.

The majority of the population speaks Bengali as their native language. The city is connected to Kolkata and nearby cities by railroad as well as paved highway. There are numerous schools which caters to the need of the residents - Rifle Factory High School, Anandamath Vidyapith, Northland High School and Sridhar Banshidhar High School, to name a few. There is no college but there are trade schools run by the ordnance factories. Most part of the city is urbane in nature with planned housing built for the factory employees with modern water and sewage system. Crime rate is fairly low and the city is conservative in nature. There are quite a few dining places and are very moderate in prices. Hotels are few in numbers though guest houses are available for business visitors.

This town is also referred to as "Ishapore" with anglicized spelling. The armaments production facility here has been a model of "corporate responsibility" for over one hundred years, with amenities for its workers including good-quality provided housing and extensive recreational facilities. Weapons tested and later produced here for the Indian Army included the Vickers-Berthier light machine gun, turned down by the British Army in favour of the Bren gun on cost grounds. The largest production was of the Indian version (in various guises and marks) of the Lee Enfield rifle.