Which natural resources are required in the economic development of rural India?

To achieve the development in national output, it is essential to combine natural resources, human resources & capital. The existence or the absence of favourable natural resources can facilitate or retard the process of economic development. Natural resources include land, water resources, fisheries, mineral resources, forests, marine resources, climate, rainfall and topography.

1.    Land Resources: The total geographical area of India is about 329 million hectares, but statistical information regarding land classification is available for only about 305 million hectares; this information is based partly on village papers and partly on estimates. We can explain land utilization pattern from the following table:-

Land utilization pattern, 1986-87 (million hectares)

2.   Forest Resources: Forest are an important natural resource of India.  They have a moderating influence against floods and thus they protect the soil against erosion.  They provide raw materials to a number of important industries, namely, furniture, matches, paper, rayon, construction, tanning, etc.  The total area under forests was 67 million hectares in 1986-87 which was about 22 percent of the total geographical area, a recent estimate has put it at 75 million hectares or 23 percent of the total geographical area.  Forests in India are mostly owned by states (95%); a small portion is under the ownership of corporate bodies and private individuals.

3. Water Resources: India is one of the wettest countries in the world, with average annual rainfall of 1100 m.m.  India’s water policy, since Independence, has mainly concentrated on highly visible large dams, reservoirs and canal systems, but has ignored minor water works such as tanks, dugwells and tubewells.

4. Fisheries: Broadly speaking, fishery resources of India are either inland or marine.  The principal rivers and their tributaries, canals, ponds, lakes, reservoirs comprise the inland fisheries.  The rivers extend over about 17,000 miles, and other subsidiary water channels comprise 70,000 miles.  The marine resources comprise the two wide arms of the Indian Ocean and a large number of gulf and bays along the coast.  About 1.8 million fishermen draw their livelihood from fisheries, though they generally live on the verge of extreme poverty.  Out of a total catch of 3 million tones of fish in 1988-89, over 1 million tones came from inland fisheries and nearly 2 million tones from marine sources.  India is the seventh largest producer of fish in the world and is second in inland fish production, which contributes 45 per cent of total production in the country. Fish production reached the level of 5.4 million tonnes in 1997-98, comprising 3.0 million tonnes of marine fishery and 2.4 million tonnes of inland fishery and is expected to reach 5.6 million tonnes in 1998-99 with 3.0 million tonnes of marine fishery and 2.6 million tonnes of inland fishery, respectively. During 1998-99, the export of marine products came down to US$ 1,038 million from US$ 1,208 million during 1997-98