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Economy
of Meghalaya
Economy of
Meghalaya
Meghalaya
is predominantly an agrarian economy. Agriculture and allied
activities engage nearly two-thirds of the total work force in
Meghalaya. However, the contribution of this sector to the State’s
NSDP is only about one-third. Agriculture in the state is
characterized by low productivity and unsustainable farm practices,
giving rise to a high incidence of rural poverty. As a result,
despite the large percentage of population engaged in agriculture,
the state is still dependent upon imports from other states for most
food items such as meat, eggs, food grains etc. Infrastructural
constraints have also prevented the economy of the state from
growing at a pace commensurate with that of the rest of the country.
Meghalaya is considered to have a rich base of natural resources.
These include minerals such coal, limestone, silimanite, Kaolin and
granite among others. Meghalaya also has a large forest cover, rich
biodiversity and numerous water bodies. The low level of
industrialization and the relatively poor infrastructure base in the
state acts as an impediment to the exploitation of these natural
resources in the interest of the state's economy. However, in recent
years two large cement manufactiring plants with production capacity
more tnan 900 MTD have come up in Jantia Hills district and several
more are in pipeline to utilise the rich deposit of very high
quality limestone available in this district. Meghalaya also has
much natural beauty and the State government has been trying to
exploit this for promoting tourism in the State. However,
infrastructural constraints and security concerns have hampered the
growth of tourism in the state. |
