Bhubaneswar: Odisha has registered a higher GSDP (Gross State Domestic Product (GDSP) growth of 8.4 per cent in the year 2018-19 from 7.4 per cent in previous financial year, claimed the Economic Survey -18-19 report which was tabled on Friday in the House. The survey is usually tabled ahead of the presentation of the Annual budget in the State Assembly.
The report claimed Odisha's average annual growth rate over a five year period has been higher than developed states such as Haryana, Punjab, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra and Jharkhand.
In the agriculture sector, the report has quoted the latest NSSO report. As per the survey report, with around 48.8% of workers being engaged in agriculture and allied activities, farm sector is the largest job provide in Odisha..
The Eco-survey claimed that household monthly income from agriculture and allied sectors witnessed a rise from Rs 4976 in 2012-13 to Rs 7731 in 2016-17.
The survey report painted a rosy growth for the state in the sectors like health, and gender security. It stated that the chid and infant mortality in the State was reduced by 41 percentage point from 1998-99 to 2015-16.
As per Census 2011, the State’s literacy rate was 72.9 per cent, which is a decadal increase of 9.8 per cent points. The 71st round of National Sample Survey (2014), pegged the State's overall literacy at 75.5 per cent with male and female literacy rate at 83.2 per cent and 67.8 per cent, respectively.
Odisha has been classified as a ‘Performer’ State, based on its aggregate performance on the 13 out of 17 SDGs in the NITI Aayog’s SDG India Index Baseline Report 2018. The State is classified as ‘Achiever’ State in Goal 15: Life on Land, the Survey report noted.
The Eco-Survey Report, further, pointed out that the State has improved its share in total manufacturing output at all India level (1.4% in 2004-05 to 2.1% in 2016-17), and also had recorded higher share of enterprises in trade at 32 per cent vis-a-vis the national average of 29 per cent. It has quoted the Sixth Economic Census.
The Eco-Survey has also outlined several indicators where the State is lagging behind.
For instance, Odisha is one among the states having lowest rail connectivity in the country, especially in the Kalahandi, Bolangir and Koraput (KBK) region. The density of rail route in Odisha is only 16 km as against the national average of 20 km. Similarly, 87 per cent of roads in the State are surfaced (higher than all India average) but the State has only 4.8% share in national highways.
Likewise, while urbanisation rate in Odisha in 2011 was 16.7%, increasing from 14.9% in 2001, it was 31% at all-India level.
In terms of Wireless technology viability, Tele-density in Odisha was 79.58 per cent compared to national average of 91.09 per cent as on March 2018. Out of total 51,311 villages in the State, around 11,000 villages have no mobile connectivity (2016-17).
The accessibility of formal financial services in terms of Automated Teller Machine (ATM) per lakh population or bank branches per lakh population is also low in Odisha, the report highlighted.