ECONOMIC SURVEY: Himachal’s growth pegged at 7.1%

Pratibha Chauhan

Shimla, February 16

Despite massive devastation caused by the unprecedented monsoon last year, the growth rate for the financial year 2023-24 has been pegged at 7.1 per cent with a marginal increase besides the per capita income (PCI) expected to rise to Rs 2.35 lakh.

The Economic Survey for 2023-24 was presented by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who also holds the finance portfolio, in the Vidhan Sabha today. The state has registered sluggish growth with a marginal increase of 0.2 per cent over last year’s growth of 6.9 per cent. Even the increase in the PCI at current prices has registered slow growth of 7.5 per cent as compared to 11.7 per cent last year when the PCI was Rs 2.18 lakh as compared to Rs 2.35 lakh this year.

Agri, manufacturing in fast lane

• The agriculture and allied sector at current prices has increased 49% from Rs 17,767 crore in 2018 to Rs 26,458 crore in 2023-24
• During 2023-24, manufacturing sector is expected to grow at 8.9 per cent, which is second highest growth rate in the industry sector. The highest growth rate is anticipated in the construction sector

Tourism industry looks up

• The tourism industry, which had suffered the worst blow during Covid pandemic, continues to look up as the arrivals of domestic tourist rose from 1.51 crore in 2022 to 1.60 crore in 2023, which could soon help achieve the pre-pandemic level of 1.70 crore.

The inflation rate in the state was moderate at 5.1 per cent in December 2023 and within the Reserve Bank of India’s permissible limits. The unemployment rate in Himachal rose from 4 per cent in 2021-22 to 4.4 per cent in 2022-23 with this figure being 3.3 per cent for men and 3.8 per cent for women in rural areas and 6.3 per cent for men and 30.6 per cent for women in urban areas.

The debt burden of the state, which is an indicator of the financial health, has come down from 40.23 per cent in 2020-21 to 37.02 per cent in 2021-22 as a percentage of the GDP. However, the total liabilities of the state have gone up from Rs 60,992.87 crore to Rs 63,735.62 crore for the same period. The revenue receipts for 2023-24 are expected at 18.32 per cent as compared to 20.31 per cent last year.

The GDP at constant prices is expected to grow by over Rs 9,428 crore and the state real gross domestic product (SGDP) is estimated to attain a level of Rs 1,42,800 crore in 2023-24 against the Rs 1,33,372 crore estimate of last year.

As per the advance estimates, the gross value added (GVA) from the primary sector is expected to witness a dip from Rs 17,417 crore in 2022-23 to Rs 17,036 crore. However, the secondary sector, comprising of manufacturing, electricity, water supply and construction has shown better growth, estimated at Rs 63,424 crore against Rs 58,039 last year, registering a growth rate of 9.3 per cent. The services sector, comprising of real estate, hotels and transport, too, has improved by 7.4 per cent as it rose from Rs 50,520 crore to Rs 54,253 crore this year.

The multidimensional poverty index (MPI) in HP declined from 10.14 per cent in 2013-14 to 3.88 per cent in 2022-23.