Telangana thrived under BRS regime, acknowledges State Statistical Abstract
Telangana State Statistical Abstract, brought out by State Development Planning Society of Planning Department, points out in detail the 'remarkable progress' it achieved in the decade after State formation
Hyderabad: The Congress government, which has been repeatedly maligning the State by denying the stupendous growth it had achieved after formation in 2014 to 2023 under the BRS government, is now finding itself in a quite embarrassing position after the Telangana State Statistical Abstract (ATLAS), brought out by the State Development Planning Society (TGDPS) of the Planning Department, pointed out in detail the ‘remarkable progress’ it achieved in the decade after State formation.
Interestingly, some of the most significant acknowledgements of this in the report are in the sections pertaining to economic growth, an area repeatedly used by the Congress to criticise the BRS regime. The report says what the new State had received as a legacy in 2014 would have been enough to plant doubts in anyone’s mind about its future economic trajectory.
The report goes on to say that, however, Telangana’s performance in terms of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), which measures the value of all final goods and services produced within state boundaries in a year, reflects the remarkable progress it has achieved since its formation. In the two years preceding State formation, the Telangana region’s average rate of growth of GSDP (current prices), at 12.1 per cent was 1.3 per cent less than India’s average.
“After State formation, Telangana’s GSDP growth rate has been higher than the growth rate of the country for every single year, and the gap has widened with each successive year. In the year of State formation itself, Telangana achieved a 1 per cent higher growth rate of GSDP (current prices) than India’s. On average, Telangana has grown at a 2.2 per cent higher rate than India in the period post 2014-15,” the report notes.
The report pointed out that Telangana’s GSDP increased from Rs 5,05,849 crore in 2014-15 to Rs 15,01,981 crore in 2023-24—an increase of 196.9 per cent, making it the second-ranked NSC State in terms of the overall GSDP increase during this period. However, during this period, the country’s GDP increased by only 136.89 per cent.
“With an average annual growth rate of GSDP of 12.9 per cent from 2014-15 to 2023-24, Telangana surpassed all South Indian States with which it shares similarity in socio-economic circumstances and geographical proximity,” the report says.
The State’s share in national GDP increased from 4.1 per cent in 2014-15 to 5.1 per cent in 2023-24, despite its share in the national population remaining constant at 2.8 per cent throughout this period, it says.
As for the agriculture and allied sectors, the report says Telangana started out with a negative 0.7 per cent growth rate in 2014-15, the sector grew at an average annual rate of 14.2 per cent from 2016-17 to 2023-24.
The following portion also indirectly acknowledges what the BRS government did for the agriculture sector through initiatives like the Kaleshwaram project. “Telangana’s Agriculture and Allied sector has, in fact, been on an upward growth path for the past ten years, with its growth rate increasing by 6.4 percentage points from 2014-15 to 2023-24,” it points out.
As for the industrial sector, the report says at the time of Telangana’s formation in 2014-15, the industrial sector was growing at a modest rate of 1.5 per cent. “Since then, it achieved an impressive annual average growth rate of 9 per cent. The services sector in the State has grown in double-digit figures in all years since the State formation, barring the Covid year of 2020-21,” it says.
The report also acknowledges the growth of the per capita income in Telangana, pointing out how it went up from Rs 1,24,104 in 2014-15 to Rs 3,56,564 in 2023-24 – an increase of 187.3 per cent. From 2012-13 to 2023-24, the average annual growth rate (AAGR) of Per Capita Income in Telangana was 12.2 per cent, in comparison to India’s AAGR of PCI of 9.4 per cent in the same period.
From 2014-15 to 2023-24, the AAGR of Per Capita Income in Telangana was 12.4 per cent, in comparison to India’s AAGR of PCI of 9.0 per cent in the same period, the report notes.
