The Company came into being in 1884 as a small factory on the Eastern Bank of the river Hooghly. It was renamed Garden Reach Workshop in 1916, and was incorporated as a Company under the Indian Companies Act of 1913 with effect from 26th February 1934 (Registration No. 7891 of 1933-34). The company was taken over by the Government of India on 1st April, 1960.