Nagaland’s Resources and Industrial Potential

By Ricky Ozukum

As mentioned earlier in my previous article, more than 50 years after statehood, Nagaland remains one of the most industrially backward states in the country because of its geographical and historical reasons even after liberal funding by the Government of India. 
Let me take a quick recap on different industries in the State. Nagaland saw implementation of a number of major industrial projects during the 70s & 80s like Nagaland Pulp and Paper mills at Tuli with daily capacity of 100 MT, Nagaland Sugar Mills with distillery Unit at Dimapur of a daily crushing capacity of 1000 MT and Plywood Factory at Tizit of 1.8 million square metre capacity, all of which are presently sick industries or simply put defunct for various reasons. To equip the hospitability services, Industrial Development Corporation Limited (NIDC) floated a company viz. Nagaland Hotels Limited (NHL) to set up two 3 star hotels in the State. Hotel Japfu and Hotel Saramati which are still operational but thriving for its existence due to competition from the private players.  The Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) which started oil exploration in Nagaland since the early part of 1970, has to stop their operations due to dispute regarding payment of royalty to land owners by the State Government.

Similarly several Medium Scale industries were set up by the state government such as, Wazeho Cement Plant, Nasha Toys (P) Limited, Nagaland Mechanised Bricks Company Limited (NMBCL), DIMUL. There were several private plywood factories, however these factories has to be closed down due to several reason and Supreme Court’s ban on unabated feeling of trees throughout the state. All established and booming wood –based industries were closed throughout the state in early and mid eighties. In Dimapur, there are privately owned two roller flour mills and one aluminum utensil manufacturing. The state has two Cold Storage Plants at Dimapur.
There are 3000 plus Micro & Small Enterprises (MSEs) registered with the State’s District Industries Centers,  mainly of weaving & knitting,  saw mill, furniture, handicraft, rice mills, bakery, blacksmith, steel fabrication, motor workshop and repair & Service centers to name a few.  Weaving & Knitting units account for the largest share in the MSE sector followed by agro processing, mechanical and service based respectively.
Mineral Resources based Industries have tremendous potential in the State. The following mineral reserves has been established to date.
– Limestone & Marble – 1000 million tones
– Petroleum and Natural Gas – 600 million tonnes
– Coal – 50 million tones,
– Slate Basalt, Chert, Dunite, Gabbro, Granodiorite, Serpentine, Spilite Pyroxenite, Quartzite – Substantial Reserves. 
– The huge reserves of more than 1000 million tons of high chemical grade limestone in the eastern Nagaland is a major prospect for setting up of industries such as ; Cement ,calcium carbide, Bleaching powder and Hydrated Lime. Further the high grade limestone can be exported for foundry, blast furnace and other metallurgical and chemical industries. Some other industries that could be set up in this sector as follows: White & green marble mining a polishing, Ceramic Glazed tile, Ceramic crockery, Ceramic insulators and Slate for building materials.

Nagaland is rich in forest products such as timber, cane and bamboo, flora and fauna. It has been the major exporter of round logs, veneers, plywood and sawn timber to the rest of the country till the ban imposed by the Supreme Court. In the last 15 to 20 years Tree farming’ like rubber, teak etc has been taken up on a big scale by the people and it is expected to be a major resource for industrial activity. With setting up of Nagaland Bamboo Mission Agency, promotion of bamboo based industries in the state has major boost. Machine made bamboo sticks, blades, ply, etc. are some products, which has substantial potential. Bamboo ply production has tremendous potential in the State.
The agriculture and allied sectors in Nagaland offer good inputs for development of a host of industries which could include: floriculture, horticulture, rubber plantation and allied industries, sericulture, tea cultivation and processing, bamboo shoot preservation, mushroom cultivation and processing, piggery, poultry etc.
Floriculture can be taken up as a very viable industry in the State. The wide variety of orchids available in the State can be exported to earn valuable foreign exchange. Many species of orchids are available in Nagaland, which has tremendous commercial potential. Nagaland has as a potential region for promotion of Horticulture because of the favorable agro-climatic condition. The state has a comparative advantage in the availability of fruits such as pineapple, plum, bananas, passion fruit and citrus fruits, bamboo shoot and other exotic spices. Since use of chemical fertilizers is practically unknown to Nagas, proper marketing of organic food can reap a high return. There is immense potential for food processing industries. 
Nagaland consumer population are largely non-vegetarian, Animal Husbandry and Meat Processing have a huge potential in the State. Per capita meat (beef, pork, poultry, and mutton) consumption rate among the Nagas is perhaps the highest in the country and yet 80% of the live stock for meat is imported from outside the State. At present, scientific processing of Poultry / Piggery and other meat products is lacking in the State.
With substantial progress in the fields of education, health, electricity, water supply and communication in the state, industrialization has been slowly picking up again. But recently after losing two decades of important years due to socio-political turbulence, there is a favorable business climate prevailing in the state after signing ceasefire agreements with different political parties. Different attractive schemes and incentives being rolled out by the Govt. of India, we can see a great number of youths venturing into different entrepreneurial activities especially in MSE Sectors. There have been significant increase of business activities in the towns of Dimapur, Mokokchung and Kohima there by generating substantial income and employment avenues for the people of Nagaland. With Government of India’s Look East Policy, opening up the trade channels with south East Asia will hold bright prospects for the economy of Nagaland.  Building a new bridge with the investors remains a great challenge for the new generation entrepreneurs.