Fall in investments worries TS

Hyderabad: Sharp decline in investments in manufacturing sector in the last 10 years comes as a matter of great worry for Telangana State to achieve double digit growth in the GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product). The growth of State economy witnessed a sharp fall from an average of 10.5 per cent during the period 2005-10 to 4.5 per cent in 2012-13 owing to slow down in the growth of industrial sector. The socio-economic outlook report – 2014-15 released by Telangana State on Wednesday said revival of the growth particularly in the manufacturing sector and making it inclusive was the major challenge before the government. The report said reversal of this trend required massive infusion of investment funds into agriculture, industry and infrastructure sectors. This was essential from the point of view of food security, employment and revenue generation.

The GDDP data indicated that three districts- Hyderabad, Ranga Reddy and Medak together account for half of the GSDP of the state while Nizamabad, Adilabad and Warangal shared 17 per cent of the GSDP. The main reason for the uneven distribution across the districts was on account of large inter-sectoral income variations. The survey said the agriculture sector though contributed only 14 per cent to the GSDP, it supported nearly 50 per cent of the State population either directly or indirectly. The major contributors to the GSDP were the services and industry sectors contributing about 58 and 28 per cent respectively. When it comes to per capita income, only three, out of 10 districts, have per capita income higher than the national average. The per capita income of the State has been put at Rs 93,151 in 2013 which was higher than the national average of Rs 74,920. The report also pointed out that majority of the districts in Telangana continued to remain backward with nine out of 10 districts in the State covered under the Backward Region Grant Fund.