Atmullick Phooljur Bunnaee (Bonai) Raigarh Buragarh (Bargarh) Suktee Chandarpur Sarangarh Bindanawagarh Khariar Borasambar (Padampur) List of industries before independence Though now Balangir is one of the most under-developed districts in Odisha, it was not the same before its merger with Odisha. Ex-Patna State was one of the earliest states in India to have started industries as early as the end of the 17th century. Below is the list of industries existed during the pre-merger period. Koshal Transport and Trading Co. Ltd., Balangir Koshal Industrial Development Co. Ltd., Balangir Balangir Trading Co. Ltd., Titlagarh Patna Village Industries Association Ltd, Lathor Rajendra Tile Works Ltd, Titlagarh Koshal Industries Development Syndicate, Balangir Patna State Graphite Mining Co., Titlagarh Patna State Weaving Factory, Balangir Mahavir Jain Weaving Factory, Belgaon Weaving Factory, Manihira, Loisingha Central Jail Weaving Factory, Balangir Handmade Paper Factory, Balangir Merger with Odisha state The Chauhan rule ended with the merger of Patna and Sonepur into Orissa on the January 1, 1948. They together form the district of Balangir. Sonepur was carved out as a separate district on April 1, 1993. The last ruler of Patna, Rajendra Narayan Singh Deo successfully made the transition to democratic politics. He became the Chief Minister of Odisha from 1967 until 1971. Recent developments Currently people of this district along with the nine other districts of western Odisha are demanding for a separate state called Koshal. According to unofficial sources around 20,000 people are migrating from Balangir every year to other states in search of work. More than 90% population in this district are staying below poverty line. There is an Ordnance Factory of the Ordnance Factories Board which manufactures products for the Indian Armed Forces. Overall this western district of Odisha needs quick improvement to catch up with the other parts of the state and country. The government needs to take care of special responsibility towards the development like construction of roads, buildings, education to the people, developments like railway and air connectivity. For instance the nearest airport from any part of the district is Bhubaneswar, Raipur or Visakhapatnam which are minimum 7 hours journey from Balangir. Also the standard of living of the people needs to be improved by providing the minimum requirements to the people by providing jobs to them so that migration of the people from this part to other parts of the country could be avoided. At the same time, social