About 80% of the manganese production in India comes from Balaghat District. The recently discovered copper deposit at Malanjkhand is regarded as the largest in the country.Bauxite, Kyanite, Marble, Dolomite, Clay and limestone are the other main minerals of the district.
In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Balaghat one of the country’s 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the 24 districts in Madhya Pradesh currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).