There are significant lead deposits in the area of Dhamtari. Most of the city's workforce is involved in the timber industry or in rice or flour milling. The chemicals industry maintains a presence. Dhamtari has more than 106 rice mills. The Ravishankar Sagar dam which irrigates almost 57,000 hectares of land and is the primary supplier of potable water to the state capital of Raipur and the Bhilai Steel Plant. It lies approximately 11 km from the district capital. Asia's first ever Siphon dam was built in 1914 at Madamsilli. The Sondhur dam and the Dudhawa dam are also major projects
