Patna, Feb. 22: Bihar is moving towards greater economic stability, says the economic survey for the financial year 2011-12 that was tabled in the Assembly today.
"The growth rate of the state economy in 2010-11 over the previous financial year was 14.8 per cent. This was possible because of a substantial increase in public investment," deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi said after tabling the report. Modi, who holds the finance portfolio, pointed to registered manufacturing, construction, communication and the hospitality sectors as having recorded impressive growth.
Modi pointed out that the contribution of the primary sector (read agriculture) in Bihar's economy was decreasing and that there had been an increase in the contribution of the secondary and tertiary sectors, signs, he said, of a growing economy.
He, however, expressed ignorance over the population which had benefited from the state's economic growth or how many had come out from the BPL list. "The BPL population numbers are estimated by the central government," the deputy CM said.
Modi justified the dependency on central funds (around 70 per cent), stressing that poorer states such as Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal would have to bank on money from Delhi. "The per capita income in Bihar is still one-third of the national average and the Centre will have to give Rs 25,000 to each person to bring it to the national average," he remarked.
Modi focused on the increased productivity in agriculture ' 8 per cent in wheat and 20 per cent in maize ' and the marked increase in the production of vegetables. The total consumption of fertiliser in the state had increased from 32.25 lakh tonnes in 2006-07 to 40.36 lakh tonnes, indicating that the farmer was willing to adopt new technology.
The growth in telecommunication in Bihar has been phenomenal, as per the survey. From just 42.14 lakh landline and mobile connections in 2005-06, it has increased to over 4.47 crore.
Modi pointed out that the per capita development expenditure had increased from just Rs 930 in 2001-02 to Rs 3,467 in 2010-11 ' an annual growth of 17 per cent. The outstanding debt of the state was Rs 29,000 crore in 2001-02, he said, amounting to 53 per cent of the gross state domestic product (GSDP). By 2011-12, the figure had risen to Rs 63,000 crore, but accounted for only 25 per cent of the GSDP.
The Opposition dubbed the economic survey a "jugglery of figures".
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