Himachal: GDP growth pegged at 6.4%, per capita income to rise by 10.4%

Tribune News Service

Pratibha Chauhan

Shimla, March 16

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, who also holds the finance portfolio, tabled the Economic Survey Report for 2022-23 in the Vidhan Sabha today. The survey report pegged the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate for 2022-23 at 6.4 per cent compared to 7.6 per cent last year, a decline of 1.2 per cent.

According to advance estimates, the per capita income (PCI) at current prices is estimated at Rs 222,227 in 2022-23 against Rs 201,271 in 2021-22, indicating a growth of 10.4 per cent against 13.1 per cent in 2021-22. However, the PCI of the hill state is more than the national PCI for 2022-23 by Rs 51,607.

The GDP at current prices is estimated at Rs 195,404 crore in 2022-23 against Rs 176,269 crore last year, an increase of Rs 19,135 crore. The primary sector is likely to grow by 2 per cent at constant prices to Rs 16,717 crore from Rs 16,395 crore.

The state’s real GDP at constant prices in 2022-23 is estimated at Rs 134,576 crore against Rs 126,433 crore in 2021-22. The nominal GDP is expected to grow by 10.9 per cent compared to 13.5 per cent.

The secondary sector comprising manufacturing, electricity, gas and water supply and construction, is expected to register a growth of 7.2 per cent from Rs 56,408 crore in 2021-22 to Rs 60,444 crore in 2022-23. The services sector has registered a significant growth of 6.9 per cent in 2022-23. The advance estimates are for Rs 49,527 crore against Rs 46,350 crore in 2021-22.

One major bright spot in the survey report is a sharp increase in tourist arrivals from 56.37 lakh in 2021 to 150.99 lakh in 2022. The tourism sector was the worst hit due to the Covid breakout and tourist arrivals had fallen to 32.13 lakh in 2020.

The construction sector is expected to register the highest growth rate of 9.5 per cent in this financial year.

The industrial sector is expected to grow by 7.1 per cent while the national growth rate is 4.1 per cent. The manufacturing sector is expected to grow by 6.7 per cent.

The growth rate in the agriculture and allied sectors has declined to 2 per cent in 2022-23 from 4.9 per cent last year at constant prices. It also indicates that the unemployment rate of 4 per cent for all age groups in Himachal is lower than the national rate of 4.1 per cent. It is also lower than Uttarakhand (7.8 per cent), Punjab (6.4 per cent) and Haryana (9 per cent).

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