Growth rate slumps from 7.2 pc to 7 pc; agri sector chief cause

The Economic Survey for 2014-15 has posted a bleak picture for the State. The government has said in the survey that the growth rate has dropped from 7.2 per cent to 7 per cent. 

The drop is primarily attributed to the agriculture sector, which saw a fall of 4.8 percentage points. The survey said that there was a marginal increase in the growth rate of the industrial and services sectors. The services sector has replaced agriculture as the major contributor to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP).

The services sector has shown a upward revision to 8.9 per cent in 2014-15 from 8 per cent in 2013-14. The major contributors to the GSDP have been the railways, storage, trade, hotels and restaurants, real estate, ownership of dwellings and business services, communication, public administration and other services.

The industrial growth was pegged at 4.4 pc, in comparison to 4.2 pc during the same period last year. The survey has suggested that, here also, the core industry sector has seen a marginal decrease on a year-on-year basis. The mining sector recorded a negative growth, while manufacturing and power sectors recorded better industrial production.

In terms of human resources development, the economic survey has shown that the dropout rate has increased in lower primary schools in 2013-14 as compared to 2012-13, but the rate has decreased in higher primary schools. Housing has become expensive over the last one year. The survey has shown that unit cost of housing under various schemes in rural areas has increased to Rs 1.2 lakh, with the slum population having drastically risen in urban areas. The government has said that slum population in Bengaluru Urban alone has gone up by 21 pc in 2011 vis-a-vis 2001.

Under natural resources and environment, dense forests have declined to 21,956 sq km in 2013, from 26,156 sq km in 2001. The silver lining in the survey is the increase in the number of tourists. The tourist flow has increased from 8.41 crore in 2011 to 9.81 crore in 2013.