Telangana’s economic growth better than nation in last 6 years: Harish Rao
Addressing a media conference on the State economy over the past seven years here on Monday, the Finance Minister said Telangana has also achieved good growth in terms of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP)
Hyderabad: Telangana achieved an 11.7 per cent Average Annual Growth Rate (AAGR) of GSDP at current prices from 2014-15 to 2020-21, about 3 per cent more than India’s AAGR of 8.7 per cent during the corresponding period. In 2020-21, Telangana was the sixth highest contributor to the country’s GDP at current prices out of 18 States, though it is at 11th and 12th positions in terms of geographical area and population respectively. Finance Minister T Harish Rao attributed the State’s better performance than the country to the policies and reforms brought by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao.
Addressing a media conference on the State economy over the past seven years here on Monday, the Finance Minister said Telangana has also achieved good growth in terms of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) and per capita income among others which are indicators of a strongest State economy. As per the provisional estimates, Telangana’s GSDP at current prices in 2020-21 was Rs 9,80,407 crore, an increase of 93.8 per cent from its 2014-15 value. “This is almost double the India’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) increase of 58.4 per cent during the same period,” he said.
Between 2014-15 and 2020-21, Telangana achieved the third highest AAGR of GSDP at current prices in the country. Since the State’s formation, growth in Telangana has consistently outpaced growth in the rest of the country. On an average, Telangana grew by 3.7 percentage points more than India did for the period post State formation. Telangana’s annual average growth rate of GSDP was the highest amongst all Southern states, since 2014-15.
Even during adverse conditions like Covid-19 as well as drought conditions, Harish Rao pointed out that Telangana’s performance was better that the country. While India experienced a negative rate of growth of GDP (-3 per cent) in 2020-21 due to Covid-19 pandemic, Telangana’s growth rate was still positive (2.4 per cent). In the years 2014-15 and 2015-16, despite experiencing drought conditions, Telangana achieved high rates of growth of GSDP at 12 per cent and 14.2 per cent respectively, significantly better than that of the country as a whole which was 11 per cent and 10.5 per cent respectively.
Similarly, the Finance Minister stated that the State has recorded significant increase in terms of per capita income which is currently Rs 2,37,632. This is 1.84 times the per capita income of the country and the State has third highest per capita income in the country. In 2014, Telangana was positioned at 10th rank in terms of per capita income. “The State’s per capita income has almost doubled in six years, while the country’s per capita income has grown by 48.7 per cent in six years,” he explained. Telangana achieved the highest average growth in per capita income amongst all Southern states, at 11.5 per cent.
Explaining further, Harish Rao said Telangana tops the country in the State-owned tax revenues with an increase by 90 per cent in the last six years, achieving an amount of Rs 66,648 crore in 2020-21. The AAGR of State-owned tax revenues, was 11.52 per cent. “No other State is close to Telangana which was achieved by the TRS government through its novel policies,” he added. Odisha is in second position at a growth rate of 9.74 per cent in terms of State-owned tax revenues. The State had also recorded 120 per cent jump in IT exports over the last six years.
Responding to the accusations made by Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy during his tour in the State, the Finance Minister came down heavily on the Opposition parties for misleading people for the sake of political mileage. He pointed out that under the BJP rule, the country’s GDP growth as well as the per capital income, were lower than that of Bangladesh. He noted that the State has achieved a positive growth rate even during the Corona pandemic. He wanted Kishan Reddy to respond to these facts which were furnished by the Central government itself. He demanded the Union Minister to first explain what the Central government or he as a Union Minister, had done for Telangana State.
He made it clear that as long as Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and TRS party were in Telangana State, neither Congress nor BJP can come to power in the State. He slammed them for not having any other agenda for the benefit of people, except for criticising the government to gain an upper hand over each other. “Even in BJP, both Kishan Reddy and Bandi Sanjay Kumar are busy to gain upper hand over each other within their party. Hence, they are targeting the TRS government,” he said. He explained that the borrowings by the Telangana government were far below the national average and within the limits of Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM).
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