About Jharkhand: Information on Mining Industries, Economy, Agriculture & Geography

Jharkhand is located in the eastern part of India. The state shares its borders with West Bengal in the east, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in the west, Bihar in the north and Odisha in the south. In India, Jharkhand is one of the leading states in terms of economic growth. The GSDP increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.59 per cent between 2011-12 and 2018-19.

Jharkhand is one of the richest mineral zones in the world and boasts of 40 per cent and 29 per cent of India's mineral and coal reserves respectively. Due to its large mineral reserves, mining and mineral extraction are the major industries in the state. Value of mineral production (excluding fuel minerals) during 2018-19 (up to February 2019) stood at Rs 2,313 crore (US$ 330.95 million).

Jharkhand is rich in mineral resources such as coal (27.3 per cent of India’s reserves), iron ore (26 per cent of India’s reserves), copper ore (18.5 per cent of India’s reserves), uranium, mica, bauxite, granite, limestone, silver, graphite, magnetite and dolomite. Jharkhand is the only state in India to produce coking coal, uranium and pyrite. With 25.7 per cent of the total iron ore (hematite) reserves, Jharkhand ranks second among the states.

The state’s industries enjoy a unique location-specific advantage as it is close to the vast market of eastern India. It is closer to the ports of Kolkata, Haldia and Paradip which helps in transportation of minerals.

The state has attracted Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) equity inflows worth US$ 113 million during the period April 2000 to June 2019, according to data released by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). Total exports from the state stood at US$ 1,640.33 million during 2018-19. During 2019-20 (till September 2019), exports from the state stood at US$ 619.02 million.

Jharkhand offers a wide range of fiscal and policy incentives to industries, under the Industrial Policy, 2012. The state also has policies for IT and special economic zones (SEZs) offering sector-specific incentives, as well as the Jharkhand Energy Policy 2012 which aims to supply reliable and quality power in an efficient manner at a reasonable price.

About 80 per cent of the rural population of the state depends on agriculture. Rice is the major food crop of the state, covering 80 per cent of the cropped area.

Recent Developments:

In September 2019, second Multi Modal Terminal built at Sahibganj in Jharkhand was inaugurated which was constructed on the river Ganga under Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP).

In August 2019, two new trains Ranchi-Tatanagar Intercity express and Hatia-Sanki passenger along with 31 Km long Tatisilway-Sanki track under Barkakana-Ranchi railway project were inaugurated.

As of December 2019, the state’s Mahuamilan station became 5,500th station to provide free WiFi under the project RailTel.

Under the state budget 2019-20, government launched two new scholarships programmes Mukhyamantri Medha Chatravitti Yojana (MMCY) and Mukhyamantri Vidyalakshmi Uncha Shiksha Protsahan (MVUSP) in which student who will be selected at state level, district level and on block level through competitive examination, would be given a scholarship of Rs 12000, Rs 6000 and Rs 300 (US$ 171, US$ 85, US$ 4.29).

In February 2019, three medical colleges in the Jharkhand were inaugurated and foundation stone for the Women's Engineering College in Ramgarh district was laid.

As of October 2019, the number of IEM filed were 24 and the amount of investments proposed were Rs 1,109 crore (US$ 158.68 million).

Key Sectors:

The state is the largest producer of tasar silk (a non-mulberry silk) in the country, with 76.4 per cent share in the total output. In 2018-19, raw silk production in state was 2,375 MT.

The natural resources, policy incentives and location-specific advantages of Jharkhand support investments in sectors such as mining and metal extraction, engineering, iron and steel, and chemicals.

As Jharkhand has around 40 per cent of the country’s mineral wealth, its extensive mineral resources make mining, metals and related sectors especially lucrative for investments.

The major growth drivers of the engineering industry in Jharkhand are availability of raw material (iron and steel, aluminium, copper and other metals and non-metals), power, water and industrial labour.

In 2018-19^, total production of horticulture crops in the state of Jharkhand stood at 4.62 million tonnes, while the total area under cultivation was 415.20 thousand hectares. Total production of fruits in Jharkhand stood at 1,111.96 thousand tonnes and production of vegetables stood at 3,501.45 thousand tonnes.

Note: ^ - As per 3rd Advance Estimates, P – Provisional