NATURAL RESOURCES OF TRIPURA & ITS POTENTIALITY Introduction:

Tripura is located in the southwest North Eastern Region. The State is connected with Guwahati, by National Highway (NH-44) the distance between Guwahati and Agartala being about 587 km. The distance of Agartala from Siliguri (which is considered the entry point to the North East) is about 1065 km. Agartala is now connected by Railway Line and the same is being extended upto Sabroom, the southern-most part of Tripura. The State Capital, Agartala is also well-connected by Air to Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Guwahati and other North Eastern cities. Agartala Airport is the East, after Guwahati.

second

busiest

Airport

in

the

North

A significant aspect of Tripuras location is that the State has about 856 Km long international border with Bangladesh, which is about 84% of the total perimeter of the State. Most of the important cities of Bangladesh (including Dhaka) are within 150 km distance of the town in Tripura. The direct distance between Agartala (Tripura) and Kolkata (through Bangladesh) is only about 350Km. The Land Tripura is among the smaller State in the North Eastern Region, with a total area of about 10491.69 Sq. Km. only, out of which about 60% area is hilly and forested. The cultivated area is about 27% only. The State gets fairly high annual rainfall of about 210 cm, well spread over the year. The People The State has a total population of about 36.7 lakhs (2011 census), which is the 2nd highest in the North Eastern Region, after Assam. The average density of population is also fairly high, at 350 persons per sq. km,
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particularly considering the fact that 60% of the area being forested and hilly is sparsely populated. The literacy rate in the State is 87.75%, which is much higher than the national average and 2nd highest in the North Eastern Region, after Mizoram. The State has a good social infrastructure in terms of educational and health institutions. The main languages spoken in the State are Bangla, Hindi and English.

The Economy

The State has good agro-climatic conditions, suitable for a large variety of Agro/ Horti. crops. Further, industrial development has also picked up over the past few years. In fact, during the last decade, the State has recorded impressive growth rates. The Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) growth rate was 10.50% during 1999-2000 to 2007-08. The Secondary sector share in Gross State Domestic Product has risen from 14.12% to 22.59% during 1999-2000 to 2007-08. The per capita income of the State rose from Rs.14,119 in 19992000 to Rs. 28,806 in 2007-2008. The state of Tripura houses a lot of mineral resources. The most important minerals in Tripura are glass sand, lignite, clay, limestone, hydro potential and building material. The most important of all the minerals that are associated with the state is natural gas and oil.

Glass Sand: Deposits of white sand with an average silica content

above 98% and suitable for the manufacture at ordinary coloured glassware's occur along the bank of Bijainadi stream in Bisramganj with an estimated reserve of 1,60,000 tonnes, near old Agartala with an estimated reserve of 50,000 tonnes, and at Purba and Paschim Champamura. A glass factory was set up at Arundhutinagar near Agartala with a capacity of 2 tonnes of glassware per day. Sand deposits located at Agartala may meet the demand of raw material for the production of soda ash for use in the soap factory.

Clay: White plastic clay suitable for the manufacture of coloured ceramic
products occur at several places near Agartala, Dharmanagar and Bisramganj areas. Small deposits have been reported from the Teliamura Ampi Bazar road cutting and near Khowai and Jogindernagar. Grey plastic clay has been located on the hill-sides near Paschim Champamura with a reserve of 914 tonnes, in Ranir Bazar with a reserve of 20,000 tonnes, at Sekerkot with an estimated reserve of 60,800 tonnes. Grey and white plastic clay occur at Tarkarjala village, Mohanpur and Latiachara areas.

Lignite: Small occurrences of pyritiferous non-cacing variety of lignite

occur in the rocks on the western flank of Unkoti kolangshi hill, north of Kumarghat, at Betaga and Sabrum.

Limestone: Sporadic occurences of occasionally fossiliferous siliceous

limestone have been reported from the Sakhan and Jampui ranges.

Building material: The shale deposits in the Atharamura range can

be used for the manufacture of clay-cement-nodules to be used as road metal. The lateralised conglomerate moorum with quartz pebble is being extensively quarried for road metal. Grey-coloured, tough calcareous sandstone found in Gagrachara can be used as road metal.

Hydro Potential: The Geological Survey of India is actively

collaborating with the state government for the construction of the Manu Earth Dam which is proposed to be constructed at the upper reaches of the Manu river, for flood control and irrigation. A gravity type of brick and stone concrete dam with a reservoir at the upper reaches of the Gomati river has been constructed for the generation of hydel power from two generators each having a 5 MW capacity. The Geological Survey of India was actively associated with the construction of the hydel project. There is a proposal for construction of a dam in the upper reaches of the Khowai River to control seasonal floods & improve irrigation.

Natural Resources Bamboo:

Tripura is called the home of bamboo. The wonder plant is intimately interwoven in the socio-cultural fabric of the State. Bamboo based economic activities are an intrinsic part of life; the importance of the resource in the State's predominantly agrarian economy is well recognised. Bamboo finds many uses, and is a major source of income and employment as well. It is estimated that 2.46 lakh families in the State are engaged in bamboo related vocations.

Species of bamboo of found in Tripura

Bamboo grows all across the state of Tripura covering over nearly 10 to 15 different species. They are Barak (Bambusa balcooa), Bari (Bambusa polymorpha), Mritinga (Bambusa tulda), Muli (Melocanna baccifera), Kali (Bambusa nutans),Paora (Bambusa teres), Rupai (Dendrocalamus longispathus), Dolu (Schizostachyum dullooa), Makal (Bambusa pallida), Pecha (Dendrocalamus hamiltonii), Kailyai (Gigantochloa rostrata), Kanak kaich (Bambusa affinis), Lanthi bans (Dendrocalamus strictus), Tetua
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(Bambusa spp.), Ish (Bambusa spp.), Jai (Bambusa spp.), Bombash (Bambusa spp.), Sairil/Wadu bamboo (Melocalamus compactiflorus), Bosai (Bambusa spp.).

Area

under

bamboo forests

Area in the State under bamboo forests is 2397 sq. km (as per SFAP). Though considerable bamboo exists under farm sector and on homesteads, no authentic data exists about its extent. In the farm and homestead segments, the bamboo cultivated is predominantly Bari, Barak and Muli.

Utilisation of bamboo in the State

1. In Tripura, bamboo is utilised for: Rural Housing: posts, walls, roof structure, roofing material, scaffolding, fencing and gates (Bari, Barak, Muli, Makal) 2. Agricultural implements, baskets, food grain containers rain shields, head gear and other functional products 3. Edible shoots for food, partcularly amongst tribal communities 4. Handicraft items: toys, morra, winnowing trays, handfans, mats (Muli, Paora and Mritinga), wall panels, screens (Mritinga, makal), umbrella handles (Muli), fishing rods (Kanak kaich), agarbatti sticks (Paora, Dolu, Barak) 5. Supply of raw material to the Panchgram paper mill.

Project implementing agency

A wholly owned subsidiary of Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS) . IL&FS CDI Ltd has been set up to provide commercially sustainable integrated solutions for development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), through a cluster based and a PPP approach that would enable them to become globally competitive. IL&FS CDI implements pioneering sustainable livelihood models for the rural poor located in remote areas and dispersed across a scattered production base. The focus is on an integrated approach to strategically linking mainstream markets, building grassroots institution through effective organization & integration, providing access to information, technology, skills, credit, infrastructure & social security and forging strong linkages with multiple stakeholders.

INCENSE STICKS

MAT

BLINDS

Tripura produces 45,000 Mats are woven all Mechanized sticks are MT of bamboo sticks per across the state used for production of annum. Under the TBM, especially by the tribal Venetian blinds, home 10% of the sticks population. They have utility items and produced (2000 MT) will varied application in premium incense sticks. be rolled into raw the bamboo mat boards There is a growing incense every year. This and laminates industry. market potential for would result in The TBM strategy is to stick based lifestyle additional employment have an integrated products. This presents generation of over 8000 development of the an opportunity for women home based mat sector through development of a state workers and an increase mobilizing private wide production capacity in per capita income investment and linking in mechanized sticks by from present levels of Rs them to mat supply mobilizing private 15 per day to Rs 36 per sources in rural areas. investments in local day. enterprise HANDICRAFT FURNITURE RESOURCE GENERATION

Tripura has the largest Bamboo furniture has a skill base of bamboo universal appeal by based handicraft virtue of its eco-friendly artisans in the country. attributes and The sector currently contemporary look and lacks economy of scale feel. It has a high in production and access market potential to technology for especially in the achieving quality straight line furniture standards. TBM is for contemporary engaged in the home, outdoor and integrated development resort furniture of the specific craft segments. Tripura has clusters. The strategy the special round pole includes providing d variety of bamboo irect market linkage (kanakaich) that is through the e-portal, most suited for induction of technology, furniture making. provisioning of Specialized design infrastructure, training inputs, technology for and design inputs. bamboo processing, manufacturing and finishing is provided by TBM.
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TBM Strategy on resource generation focuses on planting bamboo species amenable to high value products. Incremental plantations in private areas and homestead plantations are encouraged under the mission. The focus is also on generation of planting material through VPC (Vegetative Propagation Center) and introduction of tissue culture.

Rubber
Climatic conditions:
Total area under plantation at present - 37,558 ha. Total potential for plantation in the state - 1,00,000 ha. Rubber Production -23,088 TPA; likely to go up. Rubber Park being set up. India's second industrial rubber park has come up in Bodhungnagar in western Tripura to boost the country's elastic polymer industry. The park, a joint venture between the Tripura Industrial Development Corporation (TIDC) and the Rubber Board, is the second of its kind in the country after the rubber park in Irapuram, Kerala. The park was created at a cost of Rs 23 crore at the Bodhungnagar industrial growth centre, 15 km north of Agartala. Tripura is the second largest natural rubber producer in the country after Kerala. More and more plantations are reaching yielding stage and the productivity levels are also encouraging. Keeping in view the area under plantation, growth potential and rubber production trends, the state has been identified as the second rubber capital of the country. There is a vast potential for setting up of rubber-based industries in the State. The State Government is setting up Rubber Park with technical support of the Rubber Board, Government of India. All common facilities including Centralised Quality Control Lab, Training Centre, Tool Room, Centralised Latex & Carbon Black Masterbatch Unit, Warehouse for Raw Material Storage, Centralised procurement of subsidiary raw material would be created in the park for rubber based industries.
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Potentiality:
Tripura thus is an attractive destination for setting rubber-based industries. Keeping in view the myriad advantages and the positive factors, a large number of rubber-based industries have been set-up. These include rubber thread, tread rubber manufacturing, rubber band making, tyre retreading etc. There is a vast scope of investment in sectors like auto parts, footwear, tread rubber, vulcanized rubber, rubber band, rubber cushion and mattress, latex thread, textile fabric, hoses etc. The raw rubber now produced is being sent out of the state to neighbouring states for further value addition. Several industries have been set up in Tripura which utilize about 27% of available raw latex from TFDPC and convert to value added finished products ushering in an era of industrial revolution in the state. DS Group, Manufacture and supply of rubber thread, extruded rubber thread, latex rubber sheet. Alamode, Tfdpc Industrial Estate, Anandanagar, Manufacture and supply of rubber wood furniture Hindustan Rubtex, Sells creap rubber, natural rubber scrap, rubber compound, rubber sheet.

TEA
The Tripura Tea Industry is burgeoning into one of the industries of the northeast Indian state. The hilly terrains, fertile soil and climatic conditions of Tripura are conducive to the growth of tea plantations. Nearly 67 tea gardens and 4,346 small estates that stretch across an expanse of 6,000 hectares have mushroomed in the state. The state also receives adequate rainfall of over 2100mm rains that is uniformly distributed throughout the year. Tripura thus ranks 5th amongst the 14 tea producing states in the Indian subcontinent. The Tripura Government claims that the production of tea in the state is currently estimated to 7.5 million kg. Some of the tea estates of Tripura also produce the non toxic "Bio-tea" that has tremendous demand in the international market. The Tripura state government is currently attempting to increase the net tea production in the state. The fine blend of the tea leaves is what makes the Tripura tea special and augments its demand in the Indian as well as the international market. A couple of well known tea estates, namely the Fatikcherra Tea Estate and the Ludhah Tea Estate have broadened their horizons to venture into the production of organic tea.
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Tripura Tea Development Corporation was set up in 1980 for development of Tea Industry in the State. Subsequently, the management of five(5) sick Tea gardens was entrusted with the Corporation since 1986. The State Government has also declared T.T.D.C. as a nodal agency for growth of small farmers for tea plantation in the State. There is a Central Tea Processing Factory at Durgabari under the management of T.T.D.C.

INCORPORATION:-The Tripura Tea Development Corporation Ltd. was

incorporation under the Companies Act' 1956 on August 11, 1980. In the year 1992, Tripura Tea Development Corporation Ltd. Established a Tea Processing Factory of its own the financial assistance of N. E. C. and slowly but steadily T. T. D. C. has been becoming a commercially viable company. But unfortunately miseries come down in the form of globalisation. Since, we are to protect the interest and Socio-economic condition of the worker, the cost of production is automatically higher and this leads to incur huge loss in the recent year

MARKETING NETWORK:A lion's portion of processed tea (Made Tea) is being sold to Auction market at Guwahati. Effort is being taken to sell our Tea in poly pouch packet all over India. The Marketing of packet tea is growing rapidly and likely to reach a considerable level shortly.

Potentiality: In short, tea plantations are one of the most promising

industries in Tripura that is certain to touch the zenith of success in the coming years.

Information Technology Sector:

Availability of educated low-cost human resource. A new IT Policy is in the pipeline to replace the earlier policy of 2000. State Govt. is taking initiative to promote IT education in schools, colleges and e-Governance. Tripura is considered the second best IT destination in the North East after Guwahati; Potential for setting up IT-enabled services. Special Incentives for IT industries in the new Tripura Incentive Scheme 2007.
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Potentiality:
IT sector (including IT-enabled services) has been identified as one of the major potential growth sectors of the State. The literacy rate of the State is over 80% now, which is higher than the national average. IT industry being a knowledge-based industry, educated human resource is the most promising resource of the State. It also has good network of schools and colleges spread across the State, including 1 (one) National Institute of Technology (NIT), 1 (one) Engineering College, 2(two) Polytechnic Colleges and 8 (eight) ITls. The availability of IT trained manpower in the State has significantly improved over the years. In fact, the annual intake capacity of the IT/ Computer courses being run by Universities, Colleges and Central/ State Govt. Departments/ Organisation in Tripura alone works out to about 1,500 persons, of which the Graduate/ Postgraduate Engineering courses (BE, B.Tech, MCA, M.Tech.) in IT/ Computer Science account for annual intake capacity of about 300 candidates. In addition, there are a large number of Private Institutions running IT/ computer courses with combined annual intake capacity of about 2,000 persons. Tripura has been considered the second best IT destination in the North East, after Assam, in an independent study conducted by NEDFi. The State Government has also accorded special status to this industry and special incentives have been announced for the IT industry in the new Incentive Package. A Software Technology Park (STP) is being set up at Agartala in order to provide necessary infrastructure facilities for setting up of IT industries in the State.

Tourism as an Industry:

Quietly nestled in the lush greenery of hills, verdant valleys and transparent waterscape, Tripura, a land of plentiful myths and legends, beckon tourists from across the globe. This state, home to nineteen indigenous tribal groups, Bengali speaking non-tribals and a diversity of culture, resembles a tiny dot the peninsular India's map dangling between Northeast India and Bangladesh. But the wealth of Tripura's traditional art, culture, history and archaeology, flora and fauna, biodiversity and flushing meadows always cast a magnetic spell on casual visitors and tourists. The state's rich handicrafts, traditional music, diversity of cultural streams and faiths, co-existing down the annals of history in pristine peace constitute its irresistible charm as a tourist destination. Any visitor or tourist in Tripura can trace the state's glorious history in its archaeological remains, cultural heritage, exquisite sculpture and architecture spread across its landscape and return, richer by a finer aesthetic sense and sensibility. Tripura is an attractive tourist
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destination. The state has a rich cultural heritage. There are number of historical Hindu, Buddhist sites. The State also has rich flora and fauna.

Potentiality:
There is also great potential for development of tourist circuits, involving all the NE states and if possible, Bangladesh as well. All this offers attractive opportunities for the Hospitality Industry. In Tripura, hotels have been considered as Industry, with a view to promote tourism. Hence, all incentives available to other industrial units are also available for setting up hotels. Tripura Tourism Development Corporation Limited, (A Government of Tripura Undertaking) operates sightseeing conducted tours and Package tours in and around important places of tourist interest

Natural Gas
Tripura has vast reserve of natural gas. The gas is available in nonassociate form, with high methane content of up to 97%. Present availability of gas is 1.5 MMSCMD which is likely to go up at the level of 6.0 MMSCMD by 2012-13 onwards. Concessional Gas Pricing and vast reserve creates potential for setting up industries in this sector. Geological Mapping and exploration undertaken by Geological Survey and Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. has proved economic mineral deposit of Natural Gas (including condensate).

Potentiality:
TRIPURA has great potential for generating gas-based power and Governor DY Patil has urged the Centre to set up more projects of a similar nature to meet local needs as also exports to Bangladesh. State Government would encourage private sector investment in gas based industries. Power from the ONGCs Platana project provided both its units are commissioned as per schedule. The surplus power will be supplied to the regions states. Bangladesh has shown an interest. Another Neepco 104-MW thermal unit is coming up at Manarchak in west Tripuras Sonamura subdivision and will start functioning from March 2014. Baramura and Rokia in west Tripura also have thermal power units and at least two new units are being planned in the areas. Natural Gas which is presently used mainly for generation of power and to some extent in Domestic, Industrial, Commercial and Transport sector. Emphasis will be given for setting up of industries
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where gas will be utilized as feedstock like ammonia, urea, methanol and methanol based petrochemical industries.

Food Processing
Major Fruit Crops: Pineapple (1, 16,894 TPA), Jackfruit (2, 49,265 TPA), Orange (19,797 TPA), Cashew (1,960 TPA), Coconut (3,216 TPA) Pineapples and Oranges renowned for their unique flavour; and organic nature of produce. An Agri-Export Zone (AEZ) for Pineapple and a modern Food Park is being developed. Major spices: Ginger (4170.42 MT), Turmeric (3,381 MT), Chilli (2,085 MT), Black Pepper (41.15MT). The agro-climatic conditions are favourable for growing various fruit and horticultural crops. The products of Tripura are well known, both on the table and in other processed forms. There is a scope for the expansion of this sector under any specific variety, if required.

Potentiality:
A modern Food Park is being set up near Agartala, to give a fillip to this sector. An Agri Export Zone for Pineapple is also being developed. There is a vast potential for setting up of food processing units in the State. The State also has potential in the meat processing sector. There is an ample scope for area expansion under organic spices cultivation in Tripura. Major spices include Ginger, Turmeric, Chilli, Black Pepper, Cinnamon, Tezpatta.

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