The national and state governments have promoted both improved agricultural techniques and increased industrialization of the economy. As a result, Maharashtra has become the most developed and prosperous of the Indian states.

Resources and Agriculture

Most of Maharashtra's known mineral resources-including manganese, coal, iron ore, limestone, copper, bauxite, silica sand, and common salt-occur in the eastern districts, with some deposits in the west. Bhandara, Nagpur, and Chandrapur districts are particularly rich in bituminous coal. Undersea oil deposits were discovered near Mumbai in the 1970s. The mountainous areas of the state possess significant timber reserves. Insufficient rainfall constitutes the main obstacle to agriculture. The abundant marine life of the western coast remains largely unexploited.

Two-thirds of Maharashtra's inhabitants are small-scale farmers. Measures to combat food deficits have included the electrification of irrigation, the use of hybrid seeds, ultra-intensive cultivation, and incentives offered to the farmer. Sorghum, millet, and pulses (legumes) dominate the cropped area. Rice grows where rainfall exceeds 40 inches, and wheat is a winter crop in fields that retain moisture. Cotton, tobacco, and peanuts (groundnuts) are major crops in areas having 24-39 inches of rainfall. Irrigation dams in rain-shadow areas have resulted in a rich sugarcane yield. Mangoes, cashew nuts, bananas, and oranges are popular orchard crops. Considerable success has been achieved in overcoming many problems relating to soil erosion, storage, transport, and marketing.

Industry

The manufacture of cotton textiles is the oldest and largest industry in Maharashtra. Mumbai, Nagpur, Sholapur, Akola, and Amravati are the main factory centres; handloomed goods are produced especially in and around Nagpur and Sholapur. Other centres of traditional, agriculturally based industry include Jalgaon and Dhule (edible oils processing) and Kolhapur, Ahmadnagar, Sangli, and Miraj (sugar refining). Fruit canning and preservation are important in Nagpur, Bhusawal, Ratnagiri, and Mumbai. Forest products include timber, bamboo, sandalwood, and tendu leaves (for cheap cigarettes). Small-scale agro-processing, consisting of conversion of food grains, oilseeds, and other crops into items of daily consumption, is virtually ubiquitous in the state.

Maharashtra produces both hydroelectricity and thermal electricity, the former in western areas, the latter in the east. So-called superthermal power plants, which burn coal, are located near Nagpur and Chandrapur. The nuclear power facility at Tarapur, 70 miles north of Mumbai, was India's first nuclear power plant.

The Mumbai-Pune complex boasts the state's greatest concentration of heavy industry and high technology. The petrochemical industry has developed rapidly since the installation of India's first offshore oil wells near Mumbai in 1976. Oil refining and the manufacture of such items as agricultural implements, transport equipment, rubber products, electric and oil pumps, lathes, compressors, sugar-mill machinery, typewriters, refrigerators, electronic equipment, and television and radio sets are assuming increasing importance. There also is an incipient automobile industry. Mumbai is the national centre for motion-picture production.

The eastern area around Nagpur, Chandrapur, and Bhandara supports major coal-based industries, along with plants processing ferro-alloys, manganese and iron ores, and cement. Aurangabad and Thane are also important industrial hubs.