Drought, slow construction drag Bihar's GDP

Chronic drought and slow construction halted the speed of Bihar's economic development. The state has clocked 9.4 per cent growth in 2014-15, which almost equal to previous year's growth rate.

However, the state performed fairly well in terms of growth of enterprises and telecommunication. Moreover, the power availability has also improved in last couple of financial years, with the state government continued push on transmission and distribution sector. On the other hand, despite its best effort to increase the per capita income, the average income in Bihar is 40 percent of the national average. According to the state's economic survey, which was tabled on Thursday in state assembly, Bihar continues to rank at the lowest rung of the table of the per capita income.

"Our growth performance has been steady in last decade," said Finance Minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui, "During 2005-06 to 2014-15, our state has grown annually at 10.5 per cent, which is one of the highest among all Indian states. In last five years, agriculture, industry, trade and services sector have grown at a commendable rate. Our fiscal deficit has grown from Rs. 3,970 crore to Rs. 11,178 crore, which means we have invested more on asset creation. Still, we are comfortably under the limit of 3 per cent, as per the FRBM Act provisions. We want central government's help in further development of Bihar."

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However, a closer look at the survey figures shows that the picture is not all rosy. The growth in Primary sector, which includes agriculture and allied activities, has been 4.3 percent in last fiscal. This is one of the lowest in recent years, next to only FY 2013-14 when the sector clocked a negative growth rate. In Enterprises sector, the manufacturing sector grew at a little over 5 percent, a reflection of the slower growth in the national economic. The biggest dragger was the slowing down of construction sector, where the growth has been of only 10 percent whereas in the previous year the sector clocked 15 percent growth.