Poorest states in India: India’s economy is the sixth-largest in the world. The Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) predicted that the Indian economy will grow by 9% in 2021 and by 7% in 2022, despite being somewhat derailed by the pandemic’s effects.
The health, education, and standard of living dimensions of India’s Multidimensional Poverty Index are equally weighted and are each represented by 12 indicators, including food intake, child and adolescent mortality, antenatal care, years of schooling, school attendance, cooking fuel, sanitation, drinking water, electricity, housing, assets, and bank accounts. In this article, let’s explore the poorest Indian states.
Top 12 Poorest States In India By GDP
1. Goa: At current valuations, the state’s gross domestic product for Goa in 2017 is predicted to be $11 billion. Goa is the least poor state in India, with a GDP per capita that is 2.5 times lower than the national average and one of the country’s slow growth rates: 8.23% Goa’s main sector is tourism, which accounts for 12% of all international visitors to India.
There are two primary travel seasons in Goa: winter and summer. Tourists from outside India (mostly from Europe) travel to Goa in the summer, which is also the rainy season there. In 2015–16, Goa’s net state domestic product was close to USD 7.24 billion. The richest mineral and metal deposits are found inland, and mining is the second-largest sector of the economy. Mining is done for silica, clays, limestone, bauxite, iron, and manganese.
2. Kerala: Following independence, the government ran the country as a democratic socialist welfare state. Beginning in the 1990s, the mixed economy’s liberalization made it possible to relax Licence Raj’s limitations on capitalism and foreign direct investment, which sparked a rise in employment and the growth of the economy. The nominal gross state domestic product (GSDP) for the fiscal year 2018–19 was US$38 billion.
The hospitality industry, tourism, medical services, pilgrimage, information technology, transportation, the financial sector, and education make up the majority of the state’s service sector, which generates around 63% of its total revenue. Shipbuilding, Oil Refining, Software Industry, Coastal Mineral Industries, Food Processing, Marine Products Processing, and Rubber Based Products are some of the major initiatives in the Industrial Sector. Cash crops serve as the state’s principal economic engine.
3. Himachal Pradesh: Aside from Kerala, Himachal Pradesh is the second- lów performing state in the nation for human development metrics. Along with the rest of India, Himachal Pradesh entered the planning period in 1951 with the execution of the first five-year plan.
Himachal Pradesh received $40.7 million under the First Plan. Agriculture is responsible for 9.4% of the state’s net domestic product. It is the main industry in Himachal and a major employer. In Himachal, 62% of all state employees are directly employed in agriculture, which supports about 90% of the state’s total population.
Hydropower is one of the state’s primary revenue-generating industries. The state boasts an abundance of hydropower resources due to the presence of numerous perennial rivers.
4. Sikkim: The nominal state gross domestic product (GDP) of Sikkim, projected at US$4.6 billion in 2019, is largely agrarian and relies on the cultivation of crops such as maize, millet, wheat, barley, oranges, tea, and cardamom as well as the terraced farming of rice. Sikkim, which also produces the most cardamom of any Indian state, has the largest cardamom cultivation area.
The primary industries of the state are tanning, brewing, distilling, tanning, and watchmaking, and they are mostly concentrated in the southern regions. Additionally, Sikkim has a little mining sector that extracts minerals such as quartzite, coal, zinc, lead, copper, dolomite, and talc. Sikkim’s economy has been among India’s fastest-growing since 2000 despite the state having a very limited industrial infrastructure.
5. Punjab: Punjab’s GDP is US$40 billion. One of India’s most fertile regions in Punjab. Wheat can be grown here with great success. Additionally grown are rice, sugar cane, fruits, and vegetables. Despite experiencing slower growth than the rest of India, Punjab now has the second-slowest GDP per capita growth rate among all Indian states.
Punjab was first among Indian states in terms of GDP per capita in 1981 and fourth in 2001. Due to the province’s rich soils, numerous rivers, and vast irrigation systems, Punjab’s economy has been built mostly on agriculture since the Green Revolution. The majority of the state is an alluvial plain with rich soils.
6. Andhra Pradesh: At current exchange rates, Andhra Pradesh’s GSDP was (US$35 billion). The agriculture sector contributes (US$6.8 billion) to the national product. The economy of Andhra Pradesh is primarily centered on agriculture and cattle. The populace works in agriculture and allied industries to the tune of 60%.
The state’s main food crop and staple food is rice. It exports a variety of agricultural goods. Andhra Pradesh is investing in constructing infrastructure, such as highways, and digitizing every government service. Some important industries represented in the state’s industrial sector include those in the pharmaceutical, automotive, textile, etc.
7. Haryana: The GSDP for Haryana for 2017–18 is $35.5 billion. 45% real estate and financial and professional services, 26% commerce and hospitality, 15% state and central government personnel, and 14% transportation, logistics, and warehousing make up the services sector.
In terms of development rate and current technological infrastructure, Gurugram is the top city in India for IT services. Traditional zamindars live an agrarian lifestyle in Haryana (owner-cultivator farmers). A whopping 70% of people who live in Haryana work in agriculture. As a result, Haryana produces enough food for itself and ranks as the second-largest supplier of food grains to all of India.
8. Uttarakhand: Another low-growing state in India is Uttarakhand. Its gross state domestic product (GSDP), which was 24 786 crores in FY 2005, increased by more than twofold to 60 898. The Reserve Bank of India estimates that from April 2000 to October 2009, the state received $46.7 million in total foreign direct investment.
Agriculture is one of the most important economic sectors in Uttarakhand, as it is in much of India. The most common crops are basmati rice, wheat, soybeans, groundnuts, coarse cereals, pulses, and oil seeds.
9. Tamil Nadu: Tamil Nadu’s GSDP in 2014 was (US$20 billion), an increase of 14.86, placing third among states with a population of more than 8 million people and continuously outperforming the national average. Since its inception, Tamil Nadu has been an agricultural state and is currently one of India’s top producers of agricultural goods.
The greatest spinning industry in the nation is located in Tamil Nadu, one of the top states for the textile industry. Over a long period, Tamil Nadu has seen significant investments in the automobile industry, producing vehicles and railroad coaches.
10. Bihar: For the fiscal year (FY) 2013–14, Bihar’s gross state product (GSDP) was approximately 3.37 billion. With a growth rate of 17.06% in FY 2014–15, Bihar’s state economy is the one that is expanding the fastest in terms of GSDP. By 2007, the state’s debt was predicted to be 77% of GDP.
Bihar is the sixth-largest producer of fruits and vegetables among the Indian states. Agriculture employs almost 80% of the state’s workforce, which is more than the national average. Litchi, guava, and mango are the primary agricultural products.
11. Mizoram: Today, Mizoram has a per capital income of Rs 308571 as one of the poorest States in India. From 2007 to 2012, during the 11th Five Year Plan in Northeast India, Mizoram had its Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) at low rate of 11% even though it exceeded the target of 7.8% which is also much higher than the national average of 7.9%.
Before then, from 2002 to 2007, during the 10th Five Year Plan, even though its Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) was expected to grow at around 5.3%, it grew at 5.7% which is also a low rate. However, the major contributors to the Mizoram GSDP growth are: public administration, agriculture and construction work.
Service sector or tertiary sector also has contribution to its GSDP with its share hovering between 58% and 60% during the past 5 years. From 2022 to 2023, the GSDP of Mizoram is as low as US$4.3 billion and has been predicted to increase by 16.76 percent in 2023.
12. Karnataka: From 2021 to 2022 fiscal year, this Indian State has a GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product) as low as 9.5% but its total GSDP prediction from 2022 to 2023 is about $240 billion. However, 10 years ago, Karnataka recorded the highest growth rates of GDP and GDP per capita when compared to other Indian states.
From 2008 to 2009, its tertiary sector contributed the total sum of US$31.6 billion (which is 55 percent) of what it had at that time in its GSDP, the secondary sector contributed the total sum of $17 billion ( which is 29 percent) of what it had at that time in its GSDP, and then the primary sector contributed the total sum of US$9.5 billion (which is 16 percent) of what it had at that time in its GSDP.
As you probably already know, India has both wealthy and poor states. in the list of India’s poorest states. Bihar has emerged as India’s poorest, with half of its people living below the poverty line. This state has a poverty rate of about 33.74%. Poverty is caused by institutional and technical problems in agriculture, illiteracy, and agricultural structural and institutional factors.
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