In News: Emerging from the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic, economies of 19 states and Union Territories exceeded their pre-Covid levels, with seven recording double-digit growth rates during 2021-22, shows an analysis of official data for 21 states and UTs.
The analysis shows that the size of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) of the 19 states and UTs had contracted or recorded a negligible growth during 2020-21 — the year when the government had imposed a nationwide lockdown in view of the Covid-19 outbreak.
Their economies bounced back in 2021-22 and exceeded their pre-Covid (2019-20) levels.
Kerala and Uttar Pradesh are the only exceptions; in 2021-22, their GSDP continued to be below the pre-Covid levels.
Of these 21 states and UTs, Andhra recorded the highest growth of 11.43 per cent, while Puducherry the lowest (3.31 per cent).
Besides Andhra Pradesh, five other states and one UT – Rajasthan (11.04 per cent), Bihar (10.98 per cent), Telangana (10.88), Delhi (10.23 per cent), Odisha (10.19 per cent) and Madhya Pradesh (10.12 per cent) – reported double-digit growth rates in 2021-2
The economies of the remaining 11 states and UTs grew in range of 4.24 per cent to 8.69 per cent during 2021-22.
Among the big states, Uttar Pradesh registered the lowest growth rate of 4.24 per cent in 2021-22.
While the sharp jump in the GSDP of some states is due to the base effect, the general trend mirrors the post-pandemic economic recovery.
In 2021-22, India’s GDP expanded at 8.7 per cent against a 6.6 per cent contraction in 2020-21.
