Orissa comprises of 4.74% of India's landmass and 36.80 million people (2001 Census), accounts for 3.58% of the population of the country. Nearly 85% of its population live in rural areas and depend mostly on agriculture for their livelihood. The state has abundant mineral resources including precious and semi-precious stones. It has also plentiful water resources. The total cultivable land is nearly 65.59 lakh hectares. The state can be divided into ten agro-climatic zones on the basis of soil, weather and other relevant characteristics. Its land can be classified into three categories namely low, medium and up-lands.
The decennial growth rate of population of Orissa during 1991-2001 was 16.25% as against 20.06% in the previous decade. As per 2001 census the total workers in the state account for 142.76 lakh which is 38.79% of the total population of the state. Out of the total workers, main workers accounted for 67.2%. In the category of main workers, cultivators and agricultural labourers accounted to be 57.7%.
The Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) at constant prices (1993-94) of Orissa has increased from Rs. 18,536.66 crore in 1993-94 to Rs. 28,655.68 crore in 2003-04 as per quick estimate. It shows an annual compound growth rate of 4.46 percent over the period. The Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) commonly known as State Income increased from Rs. 16,184.88 crore in 1993-94 to Rs. 24,613.00 crore (quick estimate) in 2003-04 at 1993-94 prices. The per capita income at constant prices against Rs. 4896 in 1993-94. The food grain production increased from 35.55 lakh MT in 2002-03 to 71.52 lakh MT during 2003-04. The Gross Fixed Capital Formation for the public sector by Industry of use and type of assets of Orissa at current prices has increased from Rs. 2288.66 crore in 1993-94 to Rs. 3859.42 crore during 2002-03 (5.98% growth rate). Agriculture and Allied sectors contributed about 25.97% to NSDP during 2003-04 at 1993-94 prices.
The state has vast scope for development of fisheries sector and allied activities. The total fish production in the state was 3.07 lakh tonne in 2003-04 of which the marine fish accounted for 38.08%, brackish water fish 7.98% and fresh water fish 53.95%. Export of fish to other states and countries was estimated at 0.86 lakh tonne during 2003-04. The production of milk during 2003-04 was 9.95 lakh tonne (5.7% more than that in 2002-03. Similarly the production in egg and meat has been increased as 2.4% and 0.003% respectively. The revenue receipts from forest produce were Rs. 38.28 crore against Rs. 96.92% crore in 2002-03.
From all sources about 1826 MW of power was available against the estimated average demand of 1500 MW. The state's share in installed capacity in the state sector was 2798.88 MW in 2003-04.
During the same financial year, the mineral production of the state was 1082.8 lakh tonne valued at Rs. 5198.53 crore. The export of minerals and ores was 76.40 lakh tonne valued at Rs. 1186.53 crore. Mining royalties and other revenue collected was Rs. 550.76 crore against Rs. 443.53 crore in the previous year. By the end of 2003-04, Orissa had 361 large and medium industries with an investment of Rs. 3596.86 crore and employment potential for 85884 persons.
