Maharashtra remains the richest state: RBI report

Tamil Nadu showed the highest gross fiscal deficit across all states in 2015-16, Maharashtra continued to be the richest state in the country while Punjab witnessed steady fall in the number of factories between 2010-11 and 2013-14, according to Reserve Bank of India’s first edition of the Handbook of Statistics on Indian States. Maharashtra continued to remain the richest state in the country, with a

gross state domestic product (GSDP) in 2014-15 recorded at about Rs 9.50 lakh crore at constant prices, rising 5.7 per cent from 2013-14. The second-richest state in terms of GSDP was Tamil Nadu, closely followed by Uttar Pradesh at about Rs 5 lakh crore each, in 2014-15.

Tamil Nadu’s gross fiscal deficit was estimated at Rs 31,830 crore, followed by Uttar Pradesh’s Rs 31,560 crore for 2014-15. Maharashtra’s fiscal deficit, third widest in the country, was at Rs 30,730 crore for the period.

The total fiscal deficit of all states included was at Rs 3,33,330 crore, down 8.8 per cent from the previous year.

Punjab witnessed a steady fall in the number of factories in the past few years, according to RBI’s handbook. In 2010-11, the northern state had 12,770 factories, which fell to 12,593 in 2011-12, 12,427 in 2012-13 and 12,278 in 2013-14. Across India, the number of factories at the end of 2013-14 stood at 224,576, from 222,120 a year ago.  Maharashtra and Rajasthan witnessed considerable fall in gross sown area for agriculture. In 2012-13, Maharashtra’s gross sown area shrank to 21,874 thousand hectares, from 22,011 thousand hectares in 2011-12 and 23,175 thousand hectares in 2010-11. In case of Rajasthan, it was 23,954 thousand hectares, 24,505 thousand hectares and 26,002 thousand hectares, respectively.

Maharashtra also continues to top in terms of state-wise availability of power, generating 141,361 million units net compared with the second-highest generator Gujarat, which made available 103,540 million units as of 2015-16. For the full of India, the country made available 1,090,713 million units net of power in 2015-16, compared with 1,030,785 million units net a year ago.

In case of per capital availability of power, Dadra and Nagar Haveli trumped all other states by a long shot. The Union territory had 17,199.8 kilowatt-hour available on a per capital basis in 2015-16, compared with 228.8 kilowatt-hour for Bihar, the lowest availability among all states.

Banks disbursed most loans in the southern region, which comprises Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Lakshadweep, Puducherry and Telangana. Credit deposit ratio in Tamil Nadu was as high as 119 as of March 2015. Compared to that, the most developed state Maharashtra’s credit deposit ratio was at 92. The all-India average credit deposit ratio was at 77.1.