Which one of the following States does NOT have the Headquarters of any Railway Zone ?

Based on the distribution of Indian Railway zones, Jharkhand is the only state among the options that does not host a zonal headquarters. Bihar hosts the East Central Railway headquarters at Hajipur [2]. Chhattisgarh is the headquarters for the South East Central Railway located in Bilaspur [2]. Odisha serves as the headquarters for the East Coast Railway, situated in Bhubaneswar [2]. While Jharkhand contains significant railway divisions like Dhanbad, Ranchi, and Chakradharpur, these fall under the jurisdiction of the East Central Railway (Hajipur) and South Eastern Railway (Kolkata) respectively [1]. Therefore, while Jharkhand is a vital hub for railway operations and freight, the administrative zonal headquarters for the regions covering Jharkhand are located in neighboring states like Bihar and West Bengal.

Sources

1. [1] INDIA PEOPLE AND ECONOMY, TEXTBOOK IN GEOGRAPHY FOR CLASS XII (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 7: Transport and Communication > Table 7.2 : Indian Railways: Railway Zones and Headquarters > p. 79
2. [2] Geography of India ,Majid Husain, (McGrawHill 9th ed.) > Chapter 12: Transport, Communications and Trade > Table 12.3 > p. 15