During the British rule, Orissa had been utterly neglected and the building of the necessary infrastructure for its economic growth was completely ignored. Orissa, for the first time, came on the railway map of India I 900; by this time the whole of northern and eastern India had already been covered by railway networks.
Though the 20 miles of Orissa’s coastline were dotted with a number of minor ports before the advent of the British, they were also closed down one after the other during the British rule till hardly ant major ports was left to help in the development of the vast hinterland.
What with the absence of necessary infrastructure and what with the lack of entrepreneurship and investment capacity. Orissa remained mainly an agricultural state, its people out a precarious existence from primitive methods. It was only after independence that attention was focused on its industrial and economic development. The 4801.2 meters long Hirakud dam was completed. The hydroelectric power generated gave the much needed fillip to the industrialization of western Orissa. The Muchkund project across the Sileru river Koraput district has facilitated the growth of industries in south Orissa. The Talcher Thermal station has also substantially augmented power production in the state.