About Chhattisgarh :

Area:1,36,034 Sq. Km. Population:20,833,803 Capital: Raipur Principal Languages: Hindi

History and Geography

Chhattisgarh - The Land

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.  Forest occupies about 5977 thousand hectares which constitutes about 45 per cent of the total geographical area. The state has constituted 3 national parks and 11 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 ironcasting 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.

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, Statite, 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. Mahamaya Temple, Ratanpur View exhaustive collection of pictures on India at Photo Gallery section.

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.

Source: India 2007 - A Reference Annual