New Delhi: Maharashtra, West Bengal, and Tamil Nadu, homes to India’s three largest industrial clusters in the 1960s, have seen their fortunes diverge in terms of their share of the national economy since 1960-61, with Mamata Banerjee’s state facing the steepest decline, particularly after she became Chief Minister in 2011, according to a new paper by the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) to the Prime Minister released on Tuesday.
While Maharashtra’s performance remained broadly consistent from 1960-61 to 2023-24, West Bengal’s share has been steadily declining, while Tamil Nadu, after a mid-way decline, recovered post-1991, according to the EAC-PM paper, which examined states’ relative performance in terms of their share of the national economy and per capita GDP as a percentage of the national average.
West Bengal, which had the third-largest percentage of national GDP at 10.5% in 1960-61, presently accounts for only 5.6% in 2023-24. When Mamata Banerjee took over as chief minister in 2010-11, the state accounted for 6.7% of the national GDP.
“It (West Bengal) has consistently declined throughout this period. West Bengal’s per capita income was above the national average in 1960-61 at 127.5 percent, but its growth failed to keep pace with national trends. As a result, its relative per capita income declined to 83.7 per cent in 2023-24, falling below that of even traditionally laggard states like Rajasthan and Odisha,” the paper revealed.
Despite a minor reduction in its share over the last decade, Maharashtra’s economic performance has remained reasonably stable over this time.
Nonetheless, it continues to have the largest percentage among all states. Since the 1960s, Maharashtra has had a higher per capita income than the national average. The state’s per capita income was 133.7 percent in 1960-61, rising to 150.7 percent by 2023-24.
In contrast, Tamil Nadu contributed 8.7% of the country’s GDP in 1960-61, which increased to 8.9% in 2023-24. According to the publication, the state’s relative per capita income has increased from 109.2 percent in 1960-61 to 171.1 percent today.
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–IANS
