Economy
 |
|
 The
economy of Assam is primarily agricultural based, though Tea, Petroleum
and
petrochemicals, plywood handloom & handicrafts, paper, fertilizer
and cement form the bulk of the State industry.
Assam
produces a significant part of the total tea production of the world
and more than half of India's petroleum
Assam is endowed with a favourable climate, plentiful rainfall and
a variety of terrain. The North-East in general and Assam in particular
is hence ideally suited for the growth of a variety of food crops
like paddy and corn, as also plantation (cash) crops like tea and
rubber. Tea from Assam is highly prized in the west, particularly
Europe, as a beverage. The abundant forest resources provide timber
for such industries as plywood, paper etc. and also houses a variety
of fruits like banana, pineapple, citrus fruits, guava, papayas
etc. These forests are storehouses of an array of medicinal herbs,
which have been used by the natives down the ages. These can be
tapped for commercial purpose.
|
State
Income :
The State's economy
in terms of Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) has registered an annual
growth rate of 8.2 per cent at constant prices (1993-94) during 1999-2000
while at current prices it was 16.0 per cent. The NSDP at constant
prices for 1999-2000 (Q) is Rs.155547.1 million and in current prices
it is Rs.250509.6 million.
In respect of the per capita income, the year registered a growth
of 6.8 per cent in constant prices and 14.5 per cent in current pries.
The per capita income at constant prices for the year 1999-2000 is
Rs.5968 and the same at current prices is Rs.9162.
Industries
Tea and oil are
the two big traditional industries, which formed the backbone of the
primary sector. Tea industry which occupies an important position
in the state's economy and which is about 150 years old is basically
a combination of agricultural and manufacturing activities. However
the sectoral composition is undergoing a change. Over the last decade
and a half the contribution of the primary sector has been reduced
from 54% to 38% of the State Domestic Product, while the contribution
of the tertiary sector had risen from 40% to 52%. The secondary sector
rose from 6% to 10%. The growth in infrastructure areas like water,
transportation and electricity has played a significant part in this
sectoral shift. Banking and Finance and other information intensive
service areas have witnessed high growth rates. Today, the number
of scheduled commercial banks is more than 1226.
The State is known for its rich tradition of making handloom and handicraft
products and the Government had ensured promotion of this sector through
various development schemes. All possible measures are being taken
to assist the craftsmen, artisans, NGO etc for development of this
sector.
The contribution of industrial activities toward the state domestic
product has remained very insignificant. The state of Assam continues
to be industrially backward. The impediments for this sate of backwardness
are many, varied and multidimensional. Some of these are historical,
some are sociological, some are geo-political. Although the central
government has liberalized the industrial policy in the early 90's,
the impact of such liberalisation has not touch the state. No big
national industrial houses with the exception of Reliance and Sanghi
group have come forward to take up projects in Assam during the last
4-5 years. Similarly no foreign investment worth the name has taken
place .
The State government is well aware of its limitation in mobilizing
huge amount which are required for bringing in substantial increase
in industrial activities within a time frame and hence attaches a
great deal of importance for creating on investment friendly climate
in the State. Industrialization on a rapid growth scale has been recognized
as the panacea for upliftment of the economic and the living standard
of the people of this poor state. The future of the process of industrialization
on the hand, lies in the understanding and appraisal of the prospect
of future industrial opportunities by the State in its proper perspective.
The prospect of expansion of tea industry is very limited in that
it has reached a sort of saturation in terms of fresh investment on
a bigger scale. Expansion of Petroleum and Natural Gas based (particularly
associated ) industries will depend upon the discovery of new Oil
fields in the state. These are very capital intensive projects requiring
a huge dose of investment. Government will give due importance for
development of these industries but direction for future industrial
development of the State will have to be focused on the high and innovative
technology, Integrated projects from Agro-Harvesting to Production
of Items of mass consumption, creation of manufacturing base for popular
international brands, newer uses and application of locally available
traditional Raw-materials. Enlargement of the base of ancillary industries
to tea, crude oil and petroleum refining sector, modernization of
handloom and handicraft industries of the State, development of Jute
based industries for manufacturing non-traditional diversified products,
development of horti-cultural food products etc. are some of the areas
which will probably engage the attention of the investors and the
government alike in near future.
Structural
gaps and potential areas of investment
According to experts, Assam's development needs to be better balanced
and the structural gaps that currently exist, point to investment
opportunities in areas like power, agro-based raw materials like
horticultural crops, spice crops, indigenous crops, plantation crops
and the development of agro-based industries. There also exists
a huge scope in developing largely untapped reserves of coal, granite,
mica.
Riding on regional advantages, industries like mushrooms, silk-reeling
and jute-based products are waiting to be tapped to cater to the
burgeoning demand in the domestic and overseas markets. Domestic
agricultural know-how and economies of scale permit the growing
of vegetables like carrots, tomatoes, cauliflower, cabbages etc.Interestingly,
the waste from this wide array of agro-based industries can be channelled
towards the manufacture of medium density fibre (MDF) boards that
qualifies as a substitute for plywood and timber.
|
|
SOME
FACTS ON ASSAM
|
| Number
of phones : 80,350 |
| People
per phone : 276.3 |
| Phone
services : DoT, Reliance Nynex Cellular services |
| Railway
track length : 2,467 km |
| Domestic
airports : Guwahati (Dibrugarh, Guwahati, Jorhat,
Lakhimpur, Silchar, Tezpur) |
| International
airports : Guwahati |
| Cities
linked : Agartala, Aizawl, Calcutta, Delhi, Dibrugarh,
Jorhat, and Shillong |
| Road
length : 68,913 km |
| National
highway length : 2,296 km |
| Industrial
zones and parks : 3 (planned) |
| Export
processing zones : 1 (planned) |
| State-identified
priority sectors : Coal and hydroelectric power,
plastic processing, rapid transport system, textiles, urban
infrastructure development
|
|
|
