Chandil Dam was built across the Subarnarekha, in Bihar (later Jharkhand), as a part of the Subarnarekha Multipurpose Project.
Chandil Dam is located near Chandil, at . It is in Chandil block in Seraikela Kharsawan district of Jharkhand state, India.
The area shown in the map has been described as "part of the southern fringe of the Chotanagpur plateau and is a hilly upland tract". 75.7% of the population lives in the rural areas and 24.3% lives in the urban areas.
<small>Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the district. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.</small>
Subarnarekha Multipurpose Project, jointly sponsored by the governments of Bihar (later Jharkhand), Odisha and West Bengal, supported by a joint agreement signed in 1978. The main components of the project were Chandil Dam and Galudih Barrage across the Subarnarekha, Icha Dam and Kharkhai Barrage across the Kharkai, and associated canal network.
Chandil Dam has a length of (300.10 m earthen + 400 m concrete) and a height of a height of . Gross Storage capacity of Chandil dam is 1500 million cubic meters (52.98 Tmcft) which is the largest among all Jharkhand dams<Ref>Register of Large dams, Central Water Commission and National Dam safety Authority New Delhi, Sep 2023,Important Dams of India, Project Information code:JH05HH0055</ref>
Chandil Dam reservoir spreads over an area of .
Seraikela Kharsawan district administration states that the "dam is one of the most visited places of Jharkhand". The Dalma Hills overlook the dam. It is from Jamshedpur. In a nearby museum, 2,000 year old scripts on rock are on display.