Economy

Industry

The infrastructure for the development of industry in Odisha (Orissa) is available. A combination of coal, iron ore, limestone, bauxite and a host of other minerals on the one hand and port facilities on the other are the unique features in Odisha (Orissa). In addition, the bountiful forest resources and agricultural products provide ample scope for the development of forest-based and agro-based industries.

The entire industrial structure can be divided into following categories

a) Large-scale heavy industries,

b) Large-scale industries, 

c) Medium industries, and

d) Cottage industries.

Large-scale heavy industries

This category include iron and steel industry, aluminium, cement, ferro-maganese, ferro-chrome, galvanised pipe units, steel rolling mills and fertilizer plants.

Cement

Cement grade limestone and clay are the two important raw materials for the cement industry. The product itself being of low per unit value, low transport charges in relation to the availability of the raw materials is an essential requirement. Considering all this, two cement factories have been located at Rajgangpur and Bargarh. They have an annual capacity of 771,000 tonnes. The Rajgangpur cement factory is raw material based. It gets its supplies from the Raibaga, Rajgapur and Panposh area. The Hira cement plant at Bargarh is being expanded. A cement factory has been established at Rourkela based on slag from the steel plant. Thus, this solves the problem of slag disposal which was posing an environmental problem. Another cement factory is operating at Hirakud based on cement grade limestone from the nearby regions.

Indian Rare Earth

This project was set up in 1978 at Gopalpur by the Atomic Energy Commission. It is based on illiminite which is found in abundance on the Gopalpur coast. Gopalpur Port is being developed as an all-weather port to export rare earth and iron and steel.

Ceramic Glass and Refactory Units

For manufacturing glass, silica and soda ash are mixed and limestone is added to make glass harder. Maganese dioxide is used to correct the greenish tint. Other colouring agents like chromites and cobalt are used for manufacturing glass of special quality. While the raw materials are mostly 'weight losing', the finished products are fragile. Ceramic glass and refractory units are located at Barang, Khansbahal, Rajgangpur and Latikata. A refractory and ceramic unit is also operating at Jharmigudi.

Ferro -Maganese

Ferro-manganese plants are located at Joda in Kenjhar district and Rayagada. For these plants adequate supply of raw material is available and they are ore-based. These plants are also well served by the railways. They get an adequate supply of hydel power from the Hirakud and Machkund hydro-electric projects. The products are also suitable for export. A ferro-chrome plant at Jajpur road in Jajpur district and a ferro-silicon plant at Tiruvali in Koraput district are operating. A pig iron plant at Badbil is also working in Kendujhar district. All these plants are ore-based as the ore is bulky and cheap.

Aluminium

An aluminum factory was set up at Hirakud during the first plan itself. It is a joint venture with Canada cheap hydel power is supplied from Hirakud. A cable factory has also been located there recently which has taken advantage of the aluminum products of the factory.

National Aluminum Company Limited (NALCO)

Nalco was set up at Bhubaneswar in 1981 in collaboration with aluminum pechiney of France. It is an integrated alumnina/aluminium complex. This plant is one of the most modern in the world and the biggest in Asia. After it started production, India has not only become self-sufficient in aluminium production but has started exporting. Port facilities for export of bauxite, alumina and aluminium are available at Visakhapatnam and Paradeep.

Nalco has an alumina plant at Damanjodi for refining of bauxite ore, with a plant capacity of 0.8 million tonnes per annum. It is located at the foothills of the Panchpatmali. NALCO's captive power plant is located at Angul to which 2.4 million tonnes of coal is being supplied from Talcher.

Other Engineering Industries

Other Engineering Industries are located at Cuttack, Kansbahal  and Bhusandpur. A few railway  workshops are located at important junction  like Khurda road, Titlagarsh Bhubaneswar and Kantabanji.

Paper Mill

The manufacture of paper pulp is dependent on bamboo pulp as raw material. Odisha (Orissa)'s  forests abound in bamboo resources. This raw material being of the weight-losing type, paper factories are raw -material based. The orient paper mills of Brajrajnagar is an ideal example. It gets its cool supplies from Rampur and Hydel power from Hirakud. It has an annual licensed  capacity of 69,400 tonnes. Titagarh paper mill at Chaudwar is market oriented. This is because it avails itself  of the cheap water transport of the Mahanadi. Its annual capacity  is 18,200 tonnes. At Rayagada another paper mill has been set up because of the availability  of cheap raw material. It has an annual capacity of 18,200 tonnes.

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