Industry Power sector: Chhattisgarh is one of the few States of India where Power sector is effectively developed. Based on the current production of surplus electric power, position of the State is comfortable and profitable. The Chhattisgarh State Electricity Board (CSEB) is in a strong position to meet the electricity requirement of the new State and is in good financial health. Chhattisgarh provides electricity to several other states because of surplus production, and it's power hubs are Korba and Bilaspur. In Chhattisgarh, NTPC has an installed thermal capacity of 2100 MW at Sipat, Bilaspur while CSEB's units have a thermal capacity of 1240 MW and hydel capacity of 130 MW. Apart from NTPC and CSEB, there are a number of private generation units of large and small capacity. The State Government has pursued a liberal policy with regard to captive generation which has resulted in a number of private players coming up. As per a study made by the Power Finance Corporation Ltd New Delhi, the State has potential of 61,000 MW of additional thermal power in terms of availability of coal for more than 100 years and more than 2,500 MW hydral capacity. To tap this vast potential, substantial addition to the existing generation capacity is already under way. Steel sector Steel industry is one of the biggest heavy industry of Chhattisgarh. Bhilai Steel Plant, Bhilai operated by SAIL with a capacity of 5.4 million tonnes per year, is regarded as a significant growth indicator of the State. There are more than 100 steel rolling mills, 90+ sponge iron plants and ferro-alloy units in Chhattisgarh. Along with Bhilai, today Raipur, Bilaspur, Korba and Raigarh have become the steel hub of Chhattisgarh and with it steel association is being placed for the benefits of the investor, who are investing their capital in Chhattisgarh steel sector. Today Raipur becomes the centre of the steel sector. Raipur is biggest Market of Steel in India. Aluminium sector The aluminium industry of Chhattisgarh consists of Bharat Aluminum Company limited which has a capacity of around one million tonnes each year, but it is increasing its production by 2.5 lakh tonne per annum and it will become in future 10 lakh tonne per annum Mineral deposits Chhattisgarh is also rich in minerals. It produces 20 per cent of the country's steel and cement. Coal - 1st rank in production and reserve 3rd in Warehousing. Iron-ore - 3rd in Production. Tin - 1st rank in production (99pc) Iron-ore, limestone, dolomite, coal, bauxite are abundant. It is the only tin-ore producing State in the country. Other minerals include korandum, garnet, quartz, marble, Alexandrite and diamonds. Information & technologies In recent year Chhattisgarh is also getting exposure in IT projects and consultancy. Government of Chhattisgarh is also promoting IT and for it Government has set up a body that takes care of the IT solution. The body known to be CHIPS is coming with huge IT projects like Choice, Swan, etc. Major companies having presence Metal: Bhilai Steel Plant, Jindal Steel & POWER, BALCO Oil: Indian Oil Engineering: Simplex Casting Ltd Mining: NMDC, SECL Power : NTPC Exports Chhattisgarh's total exports were $ 353.3 million in 2009-10. Nearly 75 per cent of exports come from Bhilai and the remaining from Urla, Bhanpuri and Sirgitti. The major exports products include steel, handicrafts, handlooms, blended yarn, food and agri-products, iron, aluminium, cement, minerals and engineering products. CSIDC (Chhattisgarh State Industrial Development Corporation Limited) is the nodal agency of the Government of Chhattisgarh for export promotion in the State. Pitfalls of development Chhattisgarh is set to shed about 40,000 acres of its prime double-crop agriculture land to dozens of upcoming power projects in a district billed as having most fertile land and is a constituent of the 'rice bowl' belt of the country. Chhattisgarh's Janjgir-Champa is a rare district of central India that has nearly 80 per cent lands under irrigation cover and has a track record of producing 34-35 quintals of paddy per hectare compared to average per hectare paddy production of just 16-17 quintals in other districts of Central India. But in the next three-five years, the Janjgir-Champa district which is based in the heart of Chhattisgarh, will become India's power-hub district as State Government has signed 34 separate deals with power companies to set up coal-fired plants. If the deals were implemented, Janjgir-Champa will be the lone district of the country to generate over 40,000 MW power but these projects will eat up not less than 40,000 acres of country's best cultivated fertile land. However, Chief Minister Raman Singh said, "State Government would try to make the maximum Government land available to these projects in a bid to spare prime private farm land." "Can't understand the logic of allowing power companies to install projects on country's prime agriculture land, the decision to sign deals with 34 power producers will consume 40,000 acres land, this decision will destroy the happy life of thousands of rich farmers of Janjgir-Champa,'' remarked Navneet Singh, a farmer of Nariyara village of the district, whose all four acre double-crop land was taken over recently by KSK Energy Ventures Ltd that is setting up a 3,600 mw power plant in the village. About 150 villagers were cane-charged and arrested against alleged forcible land acquisition by the company and the farmers protest has now spilled over in other areas of the district against coming up thermal projects. Jawahar Dube, a former legislator who has launched a campaign in the district against 'loot of prime land by industries', said, "the power companies agents are forcibly acquiring farmers land at throwaway prices, if it is not stopped urgently, country's thousands of happy farmers families will be forced to prefer suicide deaths after a few years when their land compensation amount to be spent''. Raghuveer Singh, Janjgir-Champa district Panchayat member, observed, "Wherever you go to my district, you will find company agents are working out land deals with innocent farmers and surprisingly the Government is silent." He asked, "What is the need of allowing about three dozen power plants in a single district that has 80 per cent irrigation cover and high production average?" He added that people in the district feel that the Government has targeted lands of Janjgir-Champa only because "it's the lone district of Chhattisgarh which is completely free from Naxal problem and industrial houses would have no problems to set up power units." State's former Chief Minister and senior Congress politician Ajit Jogi told The Pioneer, "It's a blind favour to industries at the cost of country's interests as well as against the interests of thousands of farmers families, the State Government is so blind to prefer power companies that it handed over a dam called 'Rogda' to a private company in Janjgir-Champa, I went to several villages in the district recently to join in local peoples' protests against power plants and I found the farmers are upset with State Government for such a foolish move." Raman Singh, who is heading the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government in the State since December 2003, commented, "Signing memorandum of understandings (MoUs) with a number of power companies for setting up plants in Janjgir-Champa district is different subject and implementation of all these MoUs is different subject." "I don't think each company which has signed MoU will get coal linkage or coal block from Government of India because it is not available in such a large numbers, only those companies that are showing progress for projects will get land and efforts to be made tokeep as much as possible the double-crop land out of acquisition," Singh informed. Virendra Pandey, State's former Finance Commission Chairman said, "Almost all the companies that have entered into MoUs are setting up plants and the figure available to me shows that companies in Janjgir-Champa are acquiring majority of private lands which is all irrigation-covered double-crop." He further said, "The way State Government has planned to offer high fertile double-crop farm land to industries, no one can stop this district (Janjgir-Champa) to become India's most polluted district in next five years."