The Rushikulya River is one of the major rivers in the state of Odisha and covers entire catchment area in the districts of Kandhamal and Ganjam of Odisha. The river flows from the Daringbadi hill station in Kandhamal district. In the Ganjam district it flows through Surada, Dharakote, Asika, Pitala, Purusottampur, Taratarini, Pratappur, Alladigam, Brahmapur, Ganjam and the Chhatrapur block. The river is 165 km long with a total catchment area of 7700 km2.
A number of large scale industries have been set up in the basin. Among them are Grasim Industries Ltd-Ganjam Chemical Division (formerly Jayashree Chemical Ltd). Aska Co-operative Sugar Industries Ltd. Nuagam, Aska Spinning Mills, Monorama Chemical Works Ltd., Orissa Tubes Pvt. Ltd., etc. There are about 3360 numbers of small scale industries of different categories mainly food and allied, forest & wood based, rubber and plastic products and glass and ceramics. There is enough scope for setting up forest based industries. The basin is rich in mineral wealth. The major economic minerals are clay, limestone, manganese, sand talc, black sand and grinding materials.
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