MUMBAI: Maharashtra’s economy is expected to grow by 6.8 per cent during 2022-2023 as against its earlier estimate of 12.1 per cent in 2021-22 and the advance projection is less than India’s expected growth of 7.0 per cent, according to the state economic survey report tabled in Maharashtra state legislative assembly on Wednesday.
The report revealed the rise in the debt stock of Maharashtra. In 2022-23, the total debt stock of the state is Rs 6.49 lakh crore from Rs 5.72 lakh crore of last year, while the amount paid as annual interest is Rs 46,763 crore. The debt of Maharashtra is 18.4 per cent of total GDP, while the fiscal deficit of GDP is 2.5 per cent. The report stated that the agriculture and allied activities sector will grow by 10.2 per cent in 2022-23 as against the last year’s projections of 4 per cent.
The industry sector will grow by 6.1 per cent as against 11.9 per cent of last year’s projections and the services sector by 6.4 per cent as against last year’s projection of 13.2 per cent. The cause of concern is the investment in industry which has decreased compared to previous year.
As per the survey, in 2022-23, the actual investment in industrial sector was Rs 35,870 crore in 211 projects, while in 2021-22, it was Rs 2,77,635 crore in 273 projects while in 2020, it was Rs 44,180 crore in 296 projects in Maharashtra. So, in 2022, Maharashtra got less than Gujarat and Karnataka as far as investment is concerned.