The economy of hill state-Himachal Pradesh is expected to have a negative growth of 6.2 per cent in the current financial year 2020-21 due to the impact of Covid-19 pandemic.
“Himachal’s gross state domestic product (GSDP) for current fiscal 2020-21 is estimated to drop by 6.2 percent and the per capita income at current prices is estimated to drop by 3.7 per cent to Rs 1,83,286. The downward pressure on growth rates has been aggravated due to COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent lockdown,” stated the Economic Survey 2020-21 tabled in the State Assembly on Friday.
The Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, who also holds the portfolio of Finance, tabled the economic survey, a day before presenting the budget for next fiscal 2021-22 on March 6.
The Gross State Domestic State Product at current prices, is estimated to be Rs 1,62,816 crore in 2019-20 as against Rs 1,49,442 crore in 2018-19 showing a growth rate of 8.9 per cent during the year in the state.
The per capita income in Himachal Pradesh at current prices, for 2019-20 is estimated to be Rs 1,90,407 as against Rs 1,76,460 for the year 2018-19, registering a growth of 7.9 percent as compared to 6.6 percent during 2018-19.
According to the survey, “Himachal economy suffered serious effects on approximately all of its sectors, ranging from acute to minor. The economy received two reinforcing shocks on both demand and supply. The largest shocks are witnessed in transport, mining and quarrying, forestry and, in logging and construction. Tourism plays an important role in revenue generation and livelihood of people of the state but this was hit the worst due to COVID-19 lockdown.”
The survey projected that growth in the agriculture and livestock sectors is set to decline by 3.1 percent due to a decrease of 43 percent in horticulture production. The highest fall under primary sectors can be seen in the mining and quarrying (-18.4 per cent) followed by Forestry (-17.5 per cent). Manufacturing sector showed a contraction of 14.2 per cent during 2020-21 as against a positive growth rate of 0.3 per cent in 2019-20.
In the secondary sector, transportation by other means has the highest dip of (-) 28 per cent whereas, transportation, storage and communication has -16.2 per cent fall in 2020-21. The survey further stated that the COVID-19 forced lockdown which caused the worst hit to the tourism sector in the state.
