Chhattisgarh
 |
Area |
1,36,034 sq km |
 |
State
Government Portal |
 |
Population |
20,795,956 |
|
Open Forum Partners
|
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Capital |
Raipur |
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Important Contact Numbers |
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Principal
Languages |
Hindi |
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Development Initiatives |
History
and Geography
Chhattisgarh, carved out of Madhya Pradesh came
into being on 1 November 2000 as the 26th State
of the Union. It fulfills the long-cherished
demand of the tribal people. In ancient times
the region was known as Dakshin-Kausal. This
finds mention in Ramayana and Mahabharata also.
Between the sixth and twelfth centuries Sarabhpurias,
Panduavanshi, Somvanshi, Kalchuri and Nagvanshi
rulers dominated this region. Kalchuris ruled
in Chhattisgarh from 980 to 1791 AD. With the
advent of Britishers in 1854, Raipur gained
prominence instead of capital Ratanpur. In 1904,
Sambalpur was transferred to Orissa and estates
of Sarguja were transferred from Bengal to Chhattisgarh.
Chhattisgarh is bounded by southern Jharkhand
and Orissa in the east, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra
in the west, Uttar Pradesh and western Jharkhand
in the north and Andhra Pradesh in the south.
Areawise Chhattisgarh is the ninth largest state
and population-wise it is seventeenth state
of the nation.
Agriculture
Agriculture and allied activities account for
nearly 80 per cent of the work force in the
state. Out of the geographical area of 13,787
thousand hectares, gross cropped area is 4,799
thousand hectares, which constitutes about 35
per cent of the total geographical area. Kharif
is the main cropping season which accounts for
about 4,640 thousand hectares. Rice is the predominant
crop of the state; other important crops are
Maize, Wheat, Niger, Groundnut and Pulses. The
state has one of the biggest collections of
Rice Germplasm, which has approximately 21,000
entries. Horticulture crops are grown in an
area of about 123 thousand hectares. States
innovative, “Rajiv Kisan Mitan”
programme for encouraging farmers, to move away
from unviable varieties of paddy to commercially
viable varieties of paddy and other crops is
launched just two years ago and now over 5.18
lakh hectares of land is under this diversification
programme.
Forest occupies about 6,247 thousand hectares
which constitutes about 45 per cent of the total
geographical area. The state has constituted
3 national parks and 10 wild life sanctuaries
to conserve wild life in general and endangered
species in particular.
Industry
Chhattisgarh is generously bestowed with natural
resources like forests, minerals and surface
water. Till yesteryears—the State has
undergone a radical change and is thriving with
industrial activities now. Chhattisgarh is producing
approximately 20 per cent of steel and 15 per
cent in the country. Many Government of India
undertakings like Bhilai Steel Plant, National
Mineral Development Corporation, South-Eastern
Coal Field Limited, NTPC and a number of large
cement plants belonging to groups like ACC,
Gujarat Ambuja, Grasim, L&T, CCI and La-farge
of France and many steel projects (sponge iron/pig
iron route) in private sector are also under
different stages of implementation. There are
approximately 130 steel re-rolling mills, a
number of mini steel plants, ferro-alloy units,
steel/cast iron casting units, engineering and
fabrication units apart from large number of
agro based and food processing, chemical, plastic,
constructions material, forest produce based
units.
Strategically located in central India, Chhattisgarh
is able to supply power to units for all the
time. There are huge coal reserves (87 per cent
of India) in the state, offering cheap pithead
power generation opportunities and has potential
to produce up to 50,000 MW of power. NTPC is
now installing a new power generation unit,
largest ever, by it in Bilaspur District. NTPC
has started construction on its 2,640 MW Super
Thermal plant in Sipat and another 600 MW plant
in Korba. Government of Gujarat is putting up
a 500 MW generation plant in Korba. Several
other states are also interested in installing
plants here. Private sector MOUs for more than
1,500 MW and more projects are in the pipeline.
Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corp.
Ltd., Raipur has developed, maintained and is
managing approximately an area of 3,112 hectares
of industrial land. More than 830 industries
with investment of more than Rs 16,510 million
providing direct employment to 25,000 persons
have been setup on the land developed by this
corporation. Rani Durgavati Industrial Area-Anjani
Pendra Road, Cycle Complex-Siltara is established
in Raipur District, and the I.T. Park has been
established by CHiPS.
Information Technology
E-Governance in Chhattisgarh is oriented towards
ensuring people's access to government, which
makes the government even more responsive and
transparent. CHiPs (Chhattisgarh Infotech and
biotech Promotion Society) has been setup with
a high powered governing council under the Chief
Minister's chairperson ship, to act as a prime
mover for IT and Biotechnology in the state.
The largest secondary school level IT programme
“Indira Soochna Shakti” is achieving
its target. All citizen services of e-governance
are under one umbrella project called CHOICE
(Chhattisgarh Online Information for Citizen
Empowerment). BHUIYAN programme (Bhuiyan means
land in Chhattisgarhi) under CHOICE is a networked
land records service accessible from “virtual”
Tehsil offices, within easy reach of villagers
on an anytime-anywhere basis.
Mineral Resources
Chhattisgarh hosts a wide variety of minerals
found in igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic
terrains. Large deposits of coal, iron ore,
Limestone, Bauxite, Dolomite and Tin ore are
located in several parts of the state. Lately,
Diamondiferous Kimberlites identified in Raipur
district are likely to yield substantial quantity
of Diamonds. Medium to small deposits of gold,
base metals, quartzite, soap stone, Fluroite,
Corrundum, Graphite, Lepidolite, Amblygonite
of workable size are also likely to graduate
to the category of large deposits after prospecting.
Twenty per cent of the country's steel and cement
is produced in the State. It is the only tin-ore
producing state in the country. The mineral
resources have immense potential for large investment
in mining, setting of mineral based industries
and generating employment. Chhattisgarh is nestling
atop the world's largest Kimberlite area. Eight
blocks have been demarcated for diamond exploration.
Apart from diamond, four blocks of gold exploration
and five blocks for base metal investigation
have been demarcated.
Irrigation and Power
When the state came into being, the total irrigation
capacity was 13.28 lakh hectares (as on 1 November
2000). After that, 1.25 lakh hectare additional
capacity was created within 2 years and nine
months, by mobilising resources of various departments
and public participation, construction of 50,000
debris on the farmer's land, a total of 5 lakh
hectare additional capacity had been created.
Major completed projects are Tandula, Kodar
and Pairy. Hasdev, Mahanadi Reservoir Project,
Sondhur and Jonk are some of the other projects.
The total capacity of State Electricity Board
is 1,381.05 MW, out of which the thermal power
share is 1,260 MW and rest is hydel power. The
state government has introduced a very pro-active
power policy under which the public sector represented
by the Chhattisgarh state electricity board,
as well as the private sector have well defined
roles to play. Around 93 per cent of 19,720
inhabited villages of Chhattisgarh have been
electrified.
Transport
Roads: The total length of the roads in the
State is 35,388.54 km. The length of the national
highways is 1,827.30 km, state highways are
3,611 km, district roads are 2,118 km and rural
roads are 27,566 km.
Railways: Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg, Rajnandgaon,
Raigarh and Korba are important railway stations.
Total railway route length is 1,053 km. New
railway zone in Bilaspur started functioning
from 1 April 2003.
Airlines: Raipur is connected with New Delhi,
Nagpur, Mumbai and Bhubaneswar by daily flights.
Bilaspur, Bhilai, Raigarh, Jagdalpur, Ambikapur,
Korba, Jashpurnagar and Rajnandgaon are having
airstrips.
Festivals
Chhattisgarh is famous for its festivals. Pola,
Nawakhai, Dussehara, Deepawali, Holi, Govardhan
Pooja are celebrated with gaiety and festivity.
Tourist Centres
Chhattisgarh situated in the heart of India,
is endowed with rich cultural heritage and attractive
natural diversity. The State is full of ancient
monuments, rare wildlife, carved temples, Buddhist
sites, palaces, waterfalls, caves, rock paintings,
and hill plateaus. Chhattisgarh offers the tourists
“A Destination with a Difference”.
Bastar, with its unique cultural and ecological
identity, will come as a breath of fresh air.
Chitrakote Falls, a spot where the river Indravati
has an abrupt fall of 96 ft, which are like
horse shoe curve, are often compared to the
Niagara falls. Tirathgarh Falls, the picturesque
waterfall of Kanger river cascades down from
a height of 100 ft in the form of steps. Other
important destinations are the Keshkal valley,
Kangerghat National Park, Kailash caves and
Kutumbsar caves, which are rich in natural beauty.
In Bilaspur, Mahamaya temple at Ratanpur, Khutaghat
waterfall, Dindneswari Devi temple of Mallahar
and the Achanakmar sanctuary, Udanti sanctuary
near Raipur, Pali and Kendai waterfall of Korba
district are important places of tourist interest.
The Sabari temple of Kharod Janjgir Champa,
Nar Narayan temple of Sivarinarayan, Vishnu
temple of Janjgir are important religious places.
The tourism policy is focused on creating a
unique image for the State and to position it
as an attractive destination for both domestic
as well as foreign tourists. Some major objectives
of this policy are: To promote economically,
culturally and ecologically sustainable tourism
in the State; encourage and promote private
sector initiatives in developing tourism-related
infrastructure; limit the role of Government
to that of facilitator and provider of public
goods; increase the contribution of tourism
to the economic development of interrelated
sectors. The state has set up a State Tourism
Promoting Board as the nodal agency for translation
of the policy into action for the sustained
development of the sector.
