Assam to achieve 9.38% growth rate in the 12th plan: Gogoi
The “vision” of the Congress-led Assam government for the 12th Five Year Plan will be “creation of a vibrant and resurgent Assam”, said state’s chief minister Tarun Gogoi. Gogoi said the aim of the government in the 12th Plan would be to sustain the growth trajectory of the 11th Plan. According to Gogoi, who also holds the finance portfolio in the government, Assam will achieve a growth rate of at least 9.38 per cent in the 12th Plan.
“The acceleration that has been achieved in the economy during the 11th Five Year Plan period will have to be continued in the 12th Five Year Plan period. The endeavour to adopt a policy of comprehensive and effective development to further reduce the poverty and economic inequality in the state would continue,” said Gogoi.
The Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of Assam had shown steady rise in the first three years of the 11th Plan. The GSDP growth (at 2004-05 prices) has been 4.81 per cent in 2007-08, improved to 6.82 per cent in 2008-09 and in 2009-10 it touched 8.08 per cent.
The chief minister said that in the backdrop of the multiplier effects and the present acceleration trend in the economy of the state, Assam would be able to achieve a growth of around 9.38 per cent during the 12th Five Year Plan period. In case of sectoral growth, 5.01 per cent was expected under agriculture, 12.50 per cent under services and 4.65 per cent under industry.
Finalising the Annual Plan for the year 2012-13 for Assam, deputy chairman of Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, said the performance of agriculture and allied sector had shown considerable improvement in last few years in Assam. The overall achievement of agriculture and allied sector during the 10th Plan was 1.16 per cent. Against this, the annual growth in first three years of the 11th Plan had been 2.8 per cent, 6.3 per cent and 4.2 per cent. “This is quite encouraging against the target of 2 per cent for the 11th Plan period. The state needs to focus on further improving infrastructure and particularly road connectivity,” Ahluwalia said. He added that land erosion due to floods also needed priority attention of the government.
The Annual Plan for the year 2012-13 for Assam has been pegged at Rs 10,500 crore.
The services sector performance too had been good in the first three years of the 11th Plan, which was 7.8 per cent in 2007-08, 8.6 per cent in 2008-09 and 12.2 per cent in 2009-10 against the overall target of 8 per cent for this sector. Ahluwalia said he expected that this trend would continue for the whole 11th Plan period. However, there was a fluctuating trend in the industry sector in the first three years of the 11th Plan. The growth of industry sector, which was 0.7 per cent in 2007-08, improved to 3.3 per cent in 2008-09, but declined to 2.5 per cent in 2009-10.