INDUSTRY
Industries - small, medium and large - were conspicuous by their absence in
Tripura till about 1950. The almost isolated geographical location of the state
and lack of power and communication facilities have proved to be the major
handicap for the development of industries in the state.
Tripura's handicrafts in structure, beauty and variety is of great demand
outside. Tripura Handloom and Handicraft Development Corporation Ltd has taken
up marketing of the handicrafts in a big way and is exploring the possibilities
of exporting its products. For improving the design and quality of the products
the All- India Handicraft Board has set up a research unit at Agartala.
About 5000 craftsmen are now engaged in production of handicrafts (mainly cane
and bamboo) products.
Handloom weaving is the single largest industry. It is essentially a tribal
household industry. Another age-old industry of the state is silk. This industry
is now confined to one small village in the suburb of Agartala town. The Seri
culture industry is developing fast. During the reign of Maharaja
Birendrakishore Manikya (1909-23), a school was opened at Agartala for giving
training in Seri-cultural weaving. The area
under mulberry cultivation is about 500 hectares and production of cocoon is
estimated to be 5000 Kg per year. Besides loin looms occupy the pride of place
in the local industry of Tripura.
A jute mill set up in Agartala under public sector produces about 20 tonnes of jute
products per day and employs about 2000 persons.
Tripura is abundant in natural gas and a number of gas-based industries have
sprung up. Foundation has been laid for a Rs.126 crore methanol project of the
state owned Tripura petro-chemicals Ltd. There are 809 small scale industrial
units in Tripura.
In recent years the government has taken significant steps to educate the rural
people in the technique of the industry so that the industry could be of real
benefit to the rural people. The North-Eastern council (NEC) has come forward
for providing financial and other help for developing the industry.
In order to provide common facilities and services to the entrepreneurs, the
state government is running 5 industrial estates. One each at Arundhutinagar,
Dhwajanagar, Dhukli, Kumarghat and Dharmanagar. Besides the state has three
industrial centres viz. Udaipur in south Tripura, Kailashahar in north and one
at Agartala.
In order to co-ordinate the activities the state administration had also set up
separate corporations/ councils for handlooms, small industries, tea development
and village and cottage industries. The department of industries also runs 4
industrial centres - two at Indranagar, one each at Jatanbari and Kailashahar;
three industrial development centres viz. at Malaynagar and Takmacherra in West
Tripura district and Uttakhali in North Tripura district.
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