The staple crop of the district is rice, of which there are three crops. The indigenous manufactures are confined to the weaving of silk and cotton cloths for home use, and to the making of brass cups and plates. The chief exports are rice, oil seeds, timber and cotton; the imports are fine rice, salt, piece goods, sugar, betel nuts, coconuts and hardware. A section of the Assam-Bengal railway starts from Guwahati, and a branch of the Eastern Bengal railway has recently been opened to the opposite bank of the river. A metalled road runs due south from Guwahati to Shillong
