The Hindu Business Line : Services sector fuels 9.2 pc growth in Kerala

THE Kerala economy recorded a growth rate of 9.2 per cent in 2004-05, according to the Economic Review-2005 presented in the State Assembly on Wednesday.

Quick estimates showed that the high growth rate was made possible by a 13.8 per cent growth in the services sector. The growth rates for the primary and secondary sectors were 2.5 per cent and 1.3 per cent, respectively.

The State income at 1993-94 prices was at Rs 44,054.72 crore against Rs 40,327.56 crore in the previous year. At current prices, it was Rs 89,451.99 crore compared to Rs 80,116.12 crore in 2003-04, registering an increase of 11.7 per cent.

Correspondingly, the per capita income at constant prices was Rs 13,321 against Rs 12,328 in the previous year. At current prices, it was Rs 27,048 compared to Rs 24,492 in 2003-04.

According to the Review, the targeted growth rate in agriculture and allied sectors during the Tenth Plan is 3.05 per cent and the achievement for the first three years of the Plan was 2.21 per cent. The growth rate in agriculture income in 2004-05 was 1.7 per cent.

The share of contribution of agriculture to the State income has been on the decline even as the other sectors recorded higher rates of growth. The share of agricultural income fell to 12.53 per cent in 2004-05 from 13.62 per cent in the previous year.

The industrial growth rate was negative in 2002-03, but it increased to 7.14 per cent in 2003-04 and 5.77 per cent during the year under review. The general index of industrial production in the State continuously declined from 302.29 in 2001-02 to 262.59 in 2003-04. However, the performance of industrial exports of almost all major products recorded positive growth.

During 2004-05, the position of the State in the information technology sector was promising. In the e-governance initiatives, the achievements included the first computerised panchayat (Vellanad in Thiruvananthapuram district), fully computerised collectorate (Palakkad) and the FRIENDS system.

The State also made substantial progress in terms of investments, infrastructure and employment generation in the IT sector. Efforts are on to acquire 500 to 600 acres of land in Thiruvananthapuram to set up a "Technocity."

The tourism sector witnessed significant progress in terms of tourist arrivals, foreign exchange earnings and employment generation. The foreign tourist arrivals increased by 17.28 per cent and it constituted 10.26 per cent of the total foreign tourists inflow into the country.

The foreign exchange earnings recorded 28.82 per cent growth, providing employment to eight lakh people. New eco-tourism projects were initiated in 16 identified areas.

The number of job seekers in the live register of employment exchanges in the State stood at 37.56 lakh in 2004. There has been a very high growth in the number of professional and technical job seekers (1.76 lakh).

The fiscal situation had shown perceptible improvement. The deterioration in revenue deficit as a percentage of gross state domestic product (GSDP) had been arrested. The revenue deficit came down from Rs 4,118.66 crore (4.53 per cent of GSDP) in 2002-03 to Rs 3,680.30 crore (3.59 per cent of GSDP) in 2003-04.