POTENTIAL OF INDIAN STATES

Uttar Pradesh

Jute

Jute textile manufacturing is the most prominent industry in West Bengal due to availability of raw jute in the state. At present there are 59 jute Mills in West Bengal. Main jute products are Hessian, sacking, jute bags and other items produced by jute. Most of the jute Mills in West Bengal are located on the two banks of river Hooghly near Kolkata. West Bengal is the leader and pioneer in the country for the manufacturing of Jute Textiles. The development of Jute Industry is due to availability of raw jute, transportation and cheap labour available in the State.

India is the world's largest producer of raw jute. It alone produces World's 50% of raw jute and 40% of finished jute goods. It provides employment of 40 million farmers and 0.2 million factory workers.

Indian jute industry at a glance :

Number of jute mills in India 73
Number of jute mills in West Bengal 59
Number of looms 39733
Number of spindles 507960

Paper

West Bengal is the second largest state in India after Maharashtra in paper production. The total installation capacity of paper mills in West Bengal is approximately 222600 tonnes per year. The development of paper industry is due to the availability of raw material, waste paper, supply of water by Hooghly River, cheap transport facility, fuel and big consumption market.

Tea

West Bengal is the second largest growing state in India. West Bengal contributes 21 percent of the total production of tea in India. Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri are two northern districts of West Bengal were most of the tea gardens are located. There are three Tea growing zones:

  • Darjeeling
  • Terai
  • Dooars

Darjeeling tea is the finest tea in the world. There are 343 tea gardens in West Bengal covering 103950 hectares planted area. Tea industry plays an important role in the economy of West Bengal. It generates employment in several ways as production, processing, distribution, packaging etc. Tea is also an important source of income through exports. Kolkata port is the biggest tea-handling port in India as well as Kolkata is the biggest tea auction market in India. Many new small tea gardens have been set-up in Coochbehar, North Dinajpur etc.

Under a pilot project efforts are being made to cultivate tea plantation in non traditional areas.