MEGHALAYA INDUSTRY

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        Mineral Resources Meghalaya is a storehouse of economic minerals. The major minerals that are presently exploited are Coal, Limestone, Clay and Sillimanite. These minerals are utilised in several mineral-based industries in the country. Besides, Coal and Limestone are also exported to Bangladesh, earning a good amount of foreign exchange.

Coal
        Meghalaya is estimated to have a reserve of 640 million tonnes of which, Garo Hills alone contains 359 million tonnes. And locally, coal, is known as 'Tertiary coal'. It occurs in all the districts of the State. The ash content is much lower than that of the best quality coal of the country and its calorific value exceeds some of the best grade coal but is handicapped from its high sulphur-content. The coal is mostly of sub-bituminous type. It can be used in a large number of industries requiring non-combustible coal.

        Its usage can be traced to the following industries:

• Power Generation
• Fertiliser Industries
• Smokeless Coke Cement Industries
• Textile Industries
• Paper Industries
• Rubber Industries
• Brick-burning and Pottery Industries

        Some prominent coalfields in the State are

• West Dadenggiri
• Siju
• Balpakram
• Pyndengrei
• Langrin
• Mawlong-Shella
• Laitryngew
• Bapung.

Limestone
        Meghalaya is also estimated to have a total reserve of 5,000 million tonnes of Limestone within the Statefrom an extensive belt (approximately 200 Km. Long) of good quality Limestone (cement grade to chemical grade), having 3 (three) brands of Limestone, occurs along the southern border of Meghalaya.
Some prominent Limestone deposits are

• Cherrapunjee
• Mawlong-Ishamati
• Komorrah
• Shella
• Borsora
• Siju and Nangwalbibra
• Lumshnong
• Sutnga
• Nongkhlieh
• Syndai
• Lakadong

        Its usage can be traced to the following industries:

• Steel
• Fertiliser and chemical industries
• Cement. The existing cement plants, one at Cherrapunjee in Khasi Hills (Public Sector) and other at Damas in Garo Hills (Private Sector) have been using the Meghalaya Limestone. Besides these, Limestone of Meghalaya will also be utilised in the 2 (two) proposed cement plants, one at Garo Hills (1,000 TPD) and the other one at Jaintia Hills (1,200 TPD), both in the Public Sector. The total production of Limestone in the State during 1997-98 was 3.95 lakh tonnes.

Clay and Kaolin
        White Clay deposits are found to occur in various parts of the State. The sedimentary or Lithomargic clay occur in the Tertiary Formation, while Kaolin (China Clay) is associated with the Archaean gneissic rock. From physico-chemical test Kaolin is found to be suitable for the ceramic, paper and rubber industries. Fire Clay (reserve over 6 million tonnes) with refractory characteristics are found to occur in Garo Hills and are suitable for manufacture of Fire-bricks and Refractory industries. Sedimentary white Clay or Lithomargic Clay is found in Cherrapunji and Mahadek in Khasi Hills, Larnai and Tongseng in Jaintia Hills and Nangwalbibra and Rongrengiri in Garo Hills. The mineral may be used in whiteware industry. A probable reserve of about 90 million tonnes of this Clay has been estimated. Kaolin or China Clay occurs around Mawphlang, Smit and Laitlyngkot in Khasi Hills, Thadlaskein, Shangpung, Mulieh and Mynsngat in Jaintia Hills and Darugiri in Garo Hills. The probable reserve of Kaolin in Meghalaya estimated so far is of the order of 4.5 million tonnes.

Sillimanite
        One of the best Sillimanite deposits of the world is found in the Sonapahar region of West Khasi Hills. Geologically, these Sillimanite deposits occur in association with corundum, within the quartz- Sillimanite schist which form a broad band that can be traced discontinuously over the area. The high alumina-content of the rock makes this mineral a natural refractory mineral of great commercial value. The total inferred reserve of Sillimanite in Sonapahar and Mawpomblang is estimated at 0.045 million tonnes.

Phospherite
        Nodules of Phospherite, a fertiliser mineral, occur at the base of the Kopili Shale of Eocene age in Meghalaya. A phosphate deposit is located in the Sung Valley at the border of Khasi and Jaintia Hills districts, besides, some Phosphatic nodules are also located in Rewak area of Garo Hills. The rock containing Phosphate in the Sung Valley is known as Apatite Magnetite rock which has 15% to 30% of Phosphate-content. The reserve of Phosphatic rock as estimated by Geological Survey of India is about 5 million tonnes.

Glass-Sand Glass-Sand or Silica-Sand occurs in Laitryngew,         Umstew and Kreit in Khasi Hills and Tura in Garo Hills. The sand contains a slightly high proportion of iron which is not suitable for the production of first grade glassware. However bottles or sheet glasses may be manufactured from these sands where colour is not the sole consideration. The Silica-Sand can also be utilised in the manufacture of sodium silicate. The total reserve of Glass-Sand in Meghalaya is of the order of 3 million tonnes. The Assam Glass Factory at Guwahati used this Glass-Sand and found it suitable for the purpose.

Granite
         Deposits of multi-coloured Granite suitable for use as dimensional and decorative stones have been located in the area around Nongpoh, Mylliem and Mawkyrwat as well as in the area around Mendipathar - Songsak road. A possible reserve of about 25 million cubic metres of Granite deposits have been estimated by the Directorate of Mineral Resources at Nongpoh, Mawkyrwat and Mendipathar - Songsak. Black Granite (Dolerite) suitable for making polished blocks and slabs are also found in eastern and northern part of West Garo Hills district. Jenjal and Hallidayganj appear to be two promising areas of Black Granite deposit in the State at present.

Quartz & Feldspar
        Both Quartz & Feldspar are components of ceramic industry. These minerals are found to occur side by side in Pegmatite Veins in several localities of Khasi and Garo Hills of Meghalaya. These minerals have been used in pottery industries in Meghalaya and Assam. Total indicated reserves of Quartz & Feldspar deposits in Meghalaya are estimated at 0.076 and 0.096 million tonnes

Gypsum
         Gypsum, one of the ingredients in cement manufacture is reported to occur in Mohendraganj and Harigaon in West Garo Hills. It occurs as minute crystals in the gypsiferous shale. The concentration of Gypsum in shale is 0.07%. No detail works were carried out and no reserves were estimated so far, as the concentration of Gypsum in the host rock is uneconomic.

Base Metal
         Geological and Geophysical investigations as carried out by Geological Survey of India in a Shear Zone from Tyrsad to Barapani in Khasi Hills could not indicate any rich zones of sulphide mineralisation, but established the occurrence of copper, zinc, nickel and cobalt , in the Shillong group of rocks and metadolerite of the area. At Umpyrtha of Khasi Hills, the polymetallic base metal mineralisation within the Archaean gneissic complex occurs discontinuously for about 5/6 kms. zone form Umpyrtha to Patharkhmah. In the Umpyrtha block, the zones of polymetallic sulphide mineralisation indicates the presence of copper (1% to 1.5%) and zinc (2.25%) along with traces of molybdenum and tungsten.

Gold
        Occurrence of Gold in a Shear Zone has been reported from Tyrsad, Khasi Hills. The Gold is associated with Arseno-Pyrite and Pyrite. The maximum thickness of gold-bearing rock is 2.90m recorded in a bore-hole. In the core samples, the gold-content is found of the order of 0.8 gram/tonne to 62 gram/tonne, which is not economically viable for extraction. Occurrence of traces of Gold has been reported from rocks around Tyrsad in Khasi Hills.

Uranium
        Uranium and some other radio-active minerals are found in different parts of the state. The Uranium deposit located at Domiasiat in West Khasi Hills district is of higher grade compared to a deposit presently been exploited in the country.

Iron-Ores
        Banded-haematite quarzites are found in association with the gneissic complex at Aradonga, Athiabari and Nishangram areas of Meghalaya.

Agriculture
        Meghalaya is basically an Agricultural State with about 80% of its total population depending entirely on Agriculture for their livelihood. In Meghalaya, summer is for a period of about 5 months, from May to September, with torrential rains caused by the South West Monsoon. Rainfall varies from place to place and from altitude to altitude. The amount of rainfall over Cherrapunjee and Mawsynram is quite heavy. During the last two decades, it has ranged from 11,995 mm to 14,189 mm in Cherrapunjee and over Mawsynram it was 10,689 mm to 13,802 mm. Nature in its generous abundance, has bestowed Meghalaya a unique array of vegetation ranging from tropical and sub-tropical to temperate or near temperate. The total cropped area in the State has increased by about 42 per cent during the last twenty-five years. Food grain production sector covers an area of over 60 per cent of the total crop area. With the introduction of different crops of high yielding varieties in the mid-seventies, remarkable increase in food grain production has been made. A major break through was achieved when High Yielding Varieties of paddy such as Masuri, Pankaj IR 8 and other improved varieties series especially IR 36 which is suitable for Rabi season, fitting in the multi-cropping system have been widely cultivated all over the feasible areas of the State. A spectacular achievement was obtained when Megha I and Megha II which are cold tolerant rice varieties developed by the ICAR North East Region at Umroi near Shillong was released in 1991-92 for the higher altitude regions where there was no High Yielding Rice varieties at all earlier. Besides the major food crops of Rice and Maize, the State is also renowned for its Horticultural crops like Orange, Lemon, Pineapple, Guava, Litchi, Banana, Jack Fruits and Temperate fruits such as Plum, Pear, Peach etc. Potato, Ginger, Turmeric, Black Pepper, Arecanut, Tezpata, Betelvine, Short-staple cotton, Jute, Mesta, Mustard and Rapseed etc. are some of the important cash crops in the State. Apart from the above the State have achieved signal success in the cultivation of non-traditional crops like Tea, Cashewnut, Oilseeds, Tomato, Mushroom, Wheat, etc. Today the State can claim that about 42 per cent area under paddy have been covered with HYV with the average productivity of 2300 kgs/ha. So also is the case with Maize and Wheat where the productivity have increased tremendously with the introduction of HYV from 534 kgs/ha during 1971-72 to 1218 kgs/ha of Maize and from 611 kgs/ha to 1508 kgs/ha of Wheat. New emphasis is laid on pulses, oilseeds and cash crops. An autonomous board is set up to promote plantation crops, pioneering work done in tea cultivation, with the State having 253 small tea growers at present. Marketing of agricultural produce facilitated by establishing Secondary Regulated Markets and building rural godowns.