In several sectors of the economy in the hill State of Himachal Pradesh, the “pre-pandemic” (COVID-19) levels of output have been crossed and the economy is expected to witness a gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 8.3% in 2021-22 after contracting in 2020-21, indicating a revival of the economy.
According to the Economic Survey 2021-22, presented by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur in the Assembly during the ongoing budget session, the advance estimates suggest that the economy is expected to witness a real GDP growth of 8.3% in 2021-22 after contracting in 2020-21 and registering a negative growth of 6.2%.
In real terms, the increase in Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) pre-COVID and post-COVID (2019-20 to 2021-22) is 2.7%. In several sectors, the pre-pandemic levels of output have been crossed, said the report.
The per capita income at current prices is estimated at ₹2,01,854, which is more than the estimated national per capita income for 2020-21 by ₹51,528. The growth in per capita income during 2021-22 is estimated at 10.1%.
The report said agriculture and allied sectors have been the least impacted by the pandemic and the sector is expected to grow by 8.7% in 2021-22. The Services sector has been the hardest hit and this sector is estimated to grow by 6.3% during 2021-22 following last year’s 2.1% negative growth.
The manufacturing sector showed a growth of 11.3% during 2021-22 as against a negative growth rate of 7.3% in 2020-21. The mining and quarrying sector showed a negative growth of 3.2% during 2021-22 as against 6.8% negative growth in 2020-21.
Tourism is an important source of generation of revenue and diverse employment opportunities. A significant rise was noticed in the domestic and foreign tourist inflow during the last few years but due to the impact of COVID-19, there was a sharp decrease of 81% in tourist arrivals in 2020. However, there is an increase of 75.44% in tourist inflow upto December 2021, added the report.
On the trends in inflation, the report said in Himachal Pradesh, inflation has been moderate since 2014, Consumer Price Index combined (CPI-C) inflation was 4.6% in 2016-17 and 5.2% in 2020-21.
In the current financial year, during April-December, 2021, the CPI-C was 6.0% as compared to 5.3% for the same period in 2020-21. In the current financial year (2021-22), during April-December 2021, the CPI-Rural and the CPI-Urban indices were 6.1% and 5.2%, respectively, as compared to 4.8% and 7.6% in the corresponding period of 2020-21. (The Hindu)
