Chhattisgarh’s employment drive remains its key growth driver

The legislative assembly elections in Chhattisgarh will be held between November 7 and 17 in two phases. The state shares border with seven other Indian states, and provides access to 40 per cent of India's population. The new capital of the state, Naya Raipur, is India's first greenfield smart city with $1.5 billion invested and $2 billion in the pipeline.

Economic importance of Chhattisgarh

The state is an important hub for the production of steel and electrical power. Chhattisgarh is the only state in India where tin is produced. It further contributes to 25 per cent of iron and steel, 16 per cent of cement, and 15 per cent of aluminium production in India.

Apart from that, Chhattisgarh also has an operational Software Technology Park of India (STPI) on 1.7 million hectares. The state is India's second-largest deployer of fixed WiMAX . The state government is also establishing a greenfield electronics manufacturing cluster in Naya Raipur to promote investments in electronic system design and manufacturing.

When it comes to power generation, Chhattisgarh is often known as "power surplus" state. The state often supplies power to deficit states and intends to be a key player in the sector. In August 2023, the National Thermal Power Corporation granted investment approval for Rs 15,529 crore  Lara Super Thermal Power Project, Stage II in Chhattisgarh's Raighar district. As per InvestIndia, there is an investment pipeline of $22 billion in generation, transmission, and distribution in Chhattisgarh.

Infrastructure

Chhattisgarh is currently developing industrial parks in each of its 27 districts. At present, the state has 19 industrial parks and it is planning to set up up to 300 industrial parks in rural areas soon.

Four rail projects have been identified by Chhattisgarh Railway Corporation Limited with two projects under progress at an estimated cost of Rs 11,908 crore. The state also has planned an additional road network of 9,000 kilometers with an investment of $5.5 billion. Three new airports are being developed in the state, and there is an upcoming international cargo complex in Raipur.

Agriculture in Chhattisgarh

Agriculture is a major source of economy in Chhattisgarh where nearly 80 per cent of the population belongs to the rural sector. Known as the "rice bowl of India", paddy is the major crop in Chhattisgarh covering over 66 per cent of the total agricultural land.

Apart from paddy, cereals like maize, kodo-kutki and other small millets, pulses like tur and kulthi and oilseeds like groundnut, soybean, niger and sunflower are also grown. The major rabi crops of Chhattisgarh are jowar, gram, urad, mong, and moth.

The districts of Jashpur and Surguja are favourable for tea production. Horticulture is another area that's growing in popularity in the state. Fruit crops, vegetables, spices, flowers etc., are being produced through horticulture in the state.

Lowest unemployment rate

Chhattisgarh has a less than 1 per cent unemployment rate according to data from CMIE and Knoema during September 2022. The government had said that it has the lowest unemployment rate because of its initiatives to balance the urban-rural economy and create jobs.