Registering the highest compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.5 per cent and 12.3 per cent in the industry and service sectors, respectively, during the decadal period from 2004-05 to 2014-15, Uttarakhand is stated to have achieved a leading position compared to the bigger States.
On the other hand, the State's performance has been poor in the agriculture and allied activities during the period with its share in the gross State domestic product (GSDP) marked by a sharp decline from 22 per cent in 2004-05 to about nine per cent in 2014-15, said the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) national secretary general, DS Rawat.
He was addressing the media along with the chamber's Uttarakhand development task force chairman Babu lal Jain after releasing the findings of the chamber's recently concluded study titled 'Uttarakhand on Expressway to Growth'.
Rawat opined, "Our study found that the State of Uttarakhand has registered remarkable economic growth and industrial development, recording a CAGR of over 12 per cent during the said decadal period, which is highest among major Indian States." There has also been a marginal increase in Uttarakhand's contribution to India' economy from 0.8 per cent in 2004-05 to 1.2 per cent in 2013-14, according to the study prepared by the ASSOCHAM Economic Research Bureau (AERB). The study ascertains that the industrial sector share of about 27 per cent in the GSDP a decade ago had also registered an increase accounting for about 39 per cent share in 2014-15.
Similarly, the service sector share in the GSDP which was recorded at 49.5 per cent in 2004-05 had also registered an increase to about 51 per cent share in 2014-15. However, all is not that well when it comes to the State's performance in agriculture and allied activities wherein its share in the GSDP has dropped sharply from over 22 per cent in 2004-05 to about nine per cent in 2014-15. Considering more than 51 per cent of the State's total workforce and about 67 per cent of total rural workers being directly or indirectly dependent on agriculture for their livelihood, it is of vital importance that the State Government draft and properly promote a separate policy for mountain farming in this Himalayan State.
It is also pertinent to mention here that the State's agriculture and allied sectors which had registered negative growth rate of about 2.5 per cent in the previous year has registered a growth rate of over five per cent.