Chattisgarh
Geographical Area : 1 35 194
Population in 2001 : 2 08 33 803
Estimated population in 2025 : 2 83 59 000
Provisional Numbers in Census 2011
Chattisgarh population as percentage of India : 2.11%
Population in 2011 : 2 55 40 196
Males 1 28 27 915
Females 1 27 12 281
Sex ratio : 991
Under 6 Sex ratio : 964
Number of Districts : 16
Number of habitated villages : 19 744
Capital
Raipur
Principal Language
Hindi
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 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 the British
in 1845, 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 13,790
thousand hectares, gross cropped area is about 35 per cent of the
total geographical area. Kharif is the main cropping season. 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. Horticulture crops are
grown in an area of about 303.57 thousand hectares.
Irrigation and Power
When the State came into being, the total irrigation capacity was
13.28 lakh hectares, which has now increased to 16.81 lakh hectares.
Major completed projects are Tandula, Kodar and Pairy.
The total capacity of the State Electricity Board is 1,681.05 MW,
out of this the thermal power share is 1,260 MW and the rest is
hydel power. The electricity board is investing in modernisation,
strengthening transmission and distribution networks and creating
more generating capacities. The Board itself is adding 500 MW installed
generating capacity area 2 X 250 MW unit in Korba. The private sector
has been encouraged to setup generating capacities and to make third
party sales outside the state. Around 93 per cent of 19,720 inhabited
villages of Chhattisgarh have been electrified.
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.
There are also present medium to small deposits of gold and base
metals. Satite furn corundum, graphite of workable size, is 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 investments
in mining, setting of mineral based industries and generating employment.
Chhattisgarh nestles 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 investigations have also been demarcated.
Industry
Chhattisgarh is generously bestowed with natural resources like
forests, minerals and surface water. The State has undergone a radical
change and is thriving with industrial activities now. Chhattisgarh
produces 15 per cent of the steel made 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 by groups like ACC, Gujarat
Ambuja, Grasim, CCI and La-farge of France and 53 steel projects
(sponge iron/pig iron route) in private sector are also under different
stages of implementation. There are approximately 133 steel re-rolling
mills and a number of mini steel plants. The State also boasts of
11 ferro-alloy units, steel/cast iron casting units, engineering
and fabrication units apart from large number of agro-based and
food processing, chemical, plastic, construction material and forest
produce based units.
Due to its conducive industrial environment, Chhattisgarh is now
fetching huge amount of industrial investment. Approximately 80
MOUs worth Rs.85000 core were signed for establishing new industries
and expansion of existing units. Chhattisgarh stood first in Industrial
Entrepreneurship Memorandum (IEM) report released by Ministry of
Industries, Government of India with the proposed investment of
Rs.1,07,899 crore during the period Jan-Dec 2006
Strategically located in central India, Chhattisgarh is able to
supply power to units for all the time. About 17 per cent of the
countries coal reserves in the State, offering cheap pithead power
generation opportunities with the potential to produce up to 50,000
MW of power. NTPC is now installing a new power generation unit,
the 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. Several other States are also interested in installing
plants here. Private sector MoUs for more than 25,000 MW and more
projects are in the pipeline. Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development
Corp. Ltd. is managing approximately an area of 3,500 hectares of
industrial land. More than 925 industries with investments of more
than Rs.18,000 million providing direct employment to 80,000 persons
have already been setup on the land developed by this corporation.
Information Technology
E-Governance in Chhattisgarh is oriented towards ensuring people
access to government. This makes the government even more responsive
and transparent. Chips (Chhattisgarh Infotech and Biotech Promotion
Society) was setup with a high powered governing council under the
Chief Ministers chairpersonship, to act as a prime mover for IT
and Biotechnology in the State. All citizen services of e-governance
are under one umbrella project called CHOICE (Chhattisgarh On-line
Information for Citizens Empowerment). Chhattisgarh got the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Award 2007 for its Human Development
Report, using Information technology for the betterment of citizens.
Transport
Roads: The total length of the roads in the State in 34,930 kms.
The length of the national highways is 2,225 kms, State highways
3,213.50 kms, district roads 4,814 kms and rural roads is 27,001
kms. Two north-south and four east-west road corridors are being
constructed in the state for better connectivity having a total
length of 3106.75 kms.
Railways: Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg, Rajnandgaon, Raigarh and Korba
are important railway stations.
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