Telangana’s citizen, country’s highest earner, largest contributor to economy

In the last six fiscals, Telangana's per capita NSDP has witnessed a rapid growth of 72 per cent from Rs.1,79,358 in 2017-18 to Rs.3,08,732 in 2022-23.

Hyderabad: Telangana is moving in top gear as an economic powerhouse of the nation. With its pro-development policies, the State is right on top with both the per capita income and also the per capita NSDP (net state domestic product) of its citizens higher than those of their counterparts in all other States.

As per the latest data furnished by the union Finance Ministry and also Ministry of Programme Implementation in the Parliament, Telangana’s per capita NSDP at current prices stood at Rs.3,08,732 lakh in 2022-23 followed by Karnataka with Rs.3,01,673 and Haryana with Rs.2,96,685.

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In the last six fiscals, Telangana’s per capita NSDP has witnessed a rapid growth of 72 per cent from Rs.1,79,358 in 2017-18 to Rs.3,08,732 in 2022-23. Compared to the per capita NSDP of Rs.1,24,104 in 2014-15, the growth would be a staggering 151 per cent.

Incidentally, the per capita income of Telangana also witnessed a sharp rise from Rs.1.72 lakh in 2014-15 to Rs.3.12 lakh in 2022-23 resulting in an 81 per cent increase.

Thus, an average citizen of Telangana not only has the highest income in the country, but is also making the highest contribution to the country’s economy. India’s youngest state of Telangana has surpassed major States like Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu on both major economic parameters.

However, the Centre’s data also confirmed Telangana’s argument that despite being a major contributor to India’s economy, the State was receiving less in the terms of devolution of taxes. In the last five financial years, the devolution of funds to the State witnessed a marginal six per cent rise from Rs.18,560.88 crore in 2018-19 to Rs.19,668.15 crore in 2022-23. During the same period, the country’s overall tax devolutions increased from Rs.7,61,454 crore in 2018-19 to Rs.9,48,405 crore in 2022-23, a 24.5 percent increase.

According to State Finance officials, tax devolutions to the State have remained constant over the last five years as the Centre did not hike taxation on major revenue sources. However, the cessess were increased from 10 per cent to 20 per cent in the Centre’s overall revenue, causing a huge dent to tax devolutions received by States. “While States have a rightful share of 41 percent in overall national revenue, the Centre is actually devolving only around 29.6 percent by increasing cesses,” an official said.