The 2012–2013 Gross State Domestic Product of Manipur was about ₹ 10,188 crore (US$1.3 billion) at market prices. Its economy is mainly based on agriculture, forestry, cottage and trade.
Manipur serves as India’s “Eastern Gateway” through the towns of Moreh and Tamu, a land route for trade between India and Burma and other countries in Southeast Asia, East Asia, Siberia, the Arctic, Micronesia and Polynesia. Manipur has the largest number of craft units and the largest number of artisans in the northeastern region of India.
The word “Manipur” is composed of two Sanskrit words (Maṇi), meaning jewel and (Purǝ), meaning land/place/dwelling, Manipur translates as “Jeweled Land”. Manipur is mentioned in historical texts as Kanglipak or Meiteilipak. Sanamahi Liken wrote that the authorities adopted the new name of Manipur during the reign of Meidingu Pamheiba in the eighteenth century.
Neighboring cultures had different names for Manipur and its people. The Shan or Pong area is called Kese, the Burmese Kathe and the Assamese Macli. In the first treaty between the British East India Company and Meidingu Chingthangkhomba (Bhagyachandra) in 1762, the kingdom was referred to as “Macli”. Bhagyachandra and his successors issued coins inscribed “Manipureshwar” or “Lord of Manipur” and the British dropped the name Macli. Later, the Kriti Dharani Samhita (1825–34) popularized the Sanskrit legends of the origin of the name Manipur.
Electricity
Manipur with its infrastructure produced about 0.1 gigawatt-hour (0.36 TJ) of electricity in 2010. The state has an estimated hydroelectric power generation capacity of over 2 gigawatt-hours (7.2 TJ). By 2010, if half of this potential is realised, it is estimated that it will provide 24/7 electricity to all residents, with surplus for sale, as well as supplying the Burma power grid.
Hydropower has been used since ancient times to grind flour and perform other functions. In the late 18th century, hydraulic power provided the energy source needed to start the Industrial Revolution. In the mid-1770s, the French engineer Bernard Forest de Bellidore published Architecture hydraulic, which described vertical- and horizontal-axis hydraulic machines, and in 1771 played a significant part in Richard Arkwright’s combination of water power, water frame, and continuous production.
In development of factory system with modern employment methods. In the 1840s hydraulic power networks were developed to generate and transmit hydro power to end users. By the end of the 19th century, the electric generator had been developed and could now be combined with hydraulics.
The increased demand arising from the industrial revolution will also drive growth. The world’s first hydroelectric power scheme was developed in 1878 by William Armstrong at Cragside in Northumberland, England. It was used to power a single arc lamp in his art gallery.
Old Skolekop Power Station no. 1, US, near Niagara Falls, began generating electricity in 1881. The first Edison hydroelectric power station, the Vulcan Street Plant, began operating on September 30, 1882 in Appleton, Wisconsin with an output of about 12.5 kilowatts.
By 1886 there were 45 hydroelectric power stations in the United States and Canada; and by 1889 there were 200 in the United States alone. Warwick Castle water-powered generator house, used to produce electricity for the castle from 1894 to 1940
By the early 20th century, many small hydroelectric power stations were being constructed by commercial companies in the mountains near metropolitan areas. An international exhibition of hydropower and tourism was held in Grenoble, France with over one million visitors.
By 1920, when 40% of the electricity produced in the United States was hydroelectric, the Federal Power Act was enacted into law. This act created the Federal Power Commission to regulate hydroelectric power stations on federal land and water.
As power stations grew larger, their associated dams developed additional purposes, including flood control, irrigation, and navigation. Large-scale development required federal funding, and federally owned corporations, such as the Tennessee Valley Authority (1933) and the Bonneville Power Administration. (1937) was created.
Additionally, the Bureau of Reclamation, which had begun a series of western US irrigation projects in the early 20th century, was now building large hydroelectric projects such as the 1928 Hoover Dam. The United States Army Corps of Engineers was also involved in hydroelectric development, completing the Bonneville Dam in 1937 and being recognized by the Flood Control Act of 1936 as the premier federal flood control agency.