Population, Agriculture, Minerals, Energy & Industry of Chhattisgarh — CGPSC GS Paper III Part 3
Weightage: The second half of Part 3 of GS Paper III: population, agriculture and irrigation, minerals, energy, industry, transport and tourism. Prelims Paper I has a state section on economy, industry, energy, water and mineral resources, so this chapter feeds both papers. Population figures are from the 2011 Census, the latest full count at the time of writing.
1. Population (Census 2011)
| Indicator | Figure |
|---|---|
| Population | About 2.55 crore |
| Density | 189 persons per sq km |
| Sex ratio | 991 females per 1,000 males |
| Literacy | 70.28 per cent (male about 80, female about 60) |
| Decadal growth, 2001-11 | 22.61 per cent |
| Scheduled Tribes | About 30.6 per cent (about 78 lakh) |
| Scheduled Castes | About 12.8 per cent |
| Urban share | About 23 per cent |
Two features stand out. The sex ratio of 991 is among the best in India, and the tribal share of nearly a third is one of the highest among the larger states. Tribal population is concentrated in the Bastar and Surguja regions, while the plains around Raipur, Durg and Bilaspur are the most densely populated.
Raipur is the most populous district. District figures predate the 2022 reorganisation, so use them with the year.
2. Agriculture
Chhattisgarh is known as the "rice bowl" of central India. Paddy is the main crop by far, grown in the central plain and increasingly in the uplands. The state's agricultural university, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya at Raipur, holds a very large collection of traditional rice varieties, usually put at over twenty thousand.
The other crops fit the soils described in the physical geography chapter:
| Crop group | Examples | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Cereals | Paddy, maize, wheat | Paddy on the plain, maize in the uplands, wheat in the black-soil north-west |
| Millets | Kodo, kutki | Bhata uplands and tribal areas |
| Pulses | Gram, tur, urad, lathyrus (tiwda) | Plain and north-west |
| Oilseeds | Linseed, groundnut, soybean | Scattered |
The state has one dominant cropping season, the kharif, so it depends heavily on the monsoon. Less than half the sown area has irrigation, and canals are the main source.
Major irrigation projects.
- Gangrel (Ravishankar Sagar) on the Mahanadi in Dhamtari, the largest reservoir of the central plain, serving irrigation and the Raipur-Bhilai industrial belt.
- Minimata Bango (Hasdeo Bango) on the Hasdeo in Korba, which also has hydel power.
- Tandula, Dudhawa, Kelo, Kharkhara and Sondur projects on the smaller rivers of the central plain and Bastar.
3. Minerals
Mineral wealth is the backbone of the state's industry. The state is at or near the top in coal, iron ore and tin, and it is one of the few states with several major minerals at once.
| Mineral | Main locations | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Coal | Korba, Raigarh, Surguja and the Hasdeo-Arand area | Roughly a fifth of India's coal; among the largest producers |
| Iron ore | Bailadila (Dantewada and Bijapur), Dalli-Rajhara (Balod), Rowghat (Narayanpur) | Bailadila ore is high-grade and exported |
| Bauxite | Mainpat and Jashpur Pat, Kabirdham, Kanker | Feeds the aluminium industry at Korba |
| Tin | Bastar region | The only state producing tin concentrate |
| Limestone, dolomite | Bilaspur, Raipur, Durg, Baloda Bazar | Cement and steel |
| Diamond, alexandrite | Gariaband area | Small, not commercial-scale |
The minerals of the north (coal, bauxite) and south (iron ore, tin) also shape where roads, railways and power plants have grown.
4. Energy
Chhattisgarh is called the power hub of India, and it has a large surplus of generation over its own demand, with power sold to other states. Confirm the current figure from the state's or the CEA's latest report.
- Thermal: the main source. Korba is the centre, with NTPC's 2,600 MW Korba station and other units, and it is called the "power capital" of the state. NTPC's Sipat station is in Bilaspur district, with others at Lara (Raigarh) and Marwa (Janjgir-Champa).
- Hydel: small, at Hasdeo Bango and Gangrel.
- Renewable: the state agency CREDA promotes solar and biomass, mainly in remote tribal villages.
The State Electricity Board was split into separate generation, transmission and distribution companies, and a holding company.
5. Industry, transport and tourism
Industry. Bhilai Steel Plant (SAIL, Durg district), set up with Soviet assistance, is the state's leading steel plant. BALCO at Korba is a major aluminium producer, and NMDC runs the Bailadila mines at Kirandul and Bacheli. Cement is centred on Baloda Bazar and Durg, and sponge iron and rice milling on Raipur and Bilaspur. Naya Raipur is the planned capital city.
Transport. Bilaspur is the headquarters of the South East Central Railway zone, and its junction is a major freight hub for coal, steel and cement. Raipur has the state's main airport, the Swami Vivekananda Airport. National highways link the plains to Odisha and Maharashtra.
Tourism. The principal sites are Chitrakote Falls, Tirathgarh Falls and the Kotumsar cave in Bastar, Mainpat in Surguja, and the heritage sites of Sirpur, Rajim and Bhoramdeo. Their cultural side is covered in the culture chapter.
Worked example 5.1 (a 15-mark answer, ~175 words). "Discuss the mineral resources of Chhattisgarh and their contribution to industrial development."
Model answer. Chhattisgarh is one of India's richest mineral states. It holds roughly a fifth of the country's coal, mainly in Korba, Raigarh, Surguja and the Hasdeo-Arand area, and about a fifth of its iron ore at Bailadila, Dalli-Rajhara and Rowghat. It also has bauxite in Mainpat and Jashpur Pat, tin in Bastar and limestone and dolomite in the central plain.
These resources support a chain of industries: thermal power at Korba, steel at Bhilai, aluminium at BALCO, cement in Baloda Bazar and Durg, and sponge iron near Raipur.
However, mining is concentrated in forest and tribal areas, raising issues of displacement, forest loss and pollution. Sustainable development requires community consent under PESA, proper rehabilitation, and value addition within the state.
Common traps CGPSC sets here
- Placing Bailadila in the north. It lies in the south, in Dantewada and Bijapur.
- Using the 2001 or an old census figure. Quote the 2011 Census, and say so.
- Treating the state's tin as widespread. It is confined to Bastar, though the state is the only producer of tin concentrate.
- Confusing the railway zone. The South East Central Railway is headquartered at Bilaspur, not Raipur.
- Mixing Bhilai and Bailadila. Bhilai is a steel plant in Durg, and Bailadila is the iron-ore mining range that supplies it.
Memory aids
- "Coal north, iron south": the two poles of the mineral map.
- "Korba power, Bhilai steel, BALCO aluminium": the three industrial signatures.
- "991 and 30": sex ratio and tribal share.
Summary
Chhattisgarh had about 2.55 crore people in 2011, with a sex ratio of 991 and a tribal share of about 30 per cent. Paddy dominates agriculture in a monsoon-dependent kharif economy served by canals from Gangrel, Bango and others.
Coal, iron ore, bauxite, tin and limestone underpin thermal power at Korba, steel at Bhilai, aluminium at BALCO and cement. The state is a power surplus state, has its railway zone at Bilaspur, and its main tourism draws are in Bastar, Surguja and the Sirpur-Rajim belt.
Exam protocol
- Give the census year with every population figure.
- Pair each mineral with its region and industry.
- Balance every mining answer with its tribal and forest cost.
