BHUBANESWAR: The Naveen Patnaik-led government might have set its ambition to achieve a one trillion dollar economy by 2030, but a latest report by a national rating agency India Ratings and Research (IRR) indicated that Odisha is not among the states that are likely to hit the mark by 2047.
According to the report released on Monday, eight states will have economies exceeding one trillion dollar each by 2046-47 financial year.
Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat would be the first to achieve the mark by 2039, followed by Tamil Nadu by 2041, Uttar Pradesh by 2042, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana by 2044 and Andhra Pradesh by 2046.
The report that considered the current state of finances and changing per capita income profile of states revealed Odisha is nowhere among the list of 10 states. With USD 93.7 billion in 2023-24, the eastern state is at 13th position in terms of sub-national economy and with USD 1,807, it is at 18th place among states and UTs in terms of per capita income.
Principal economist and senior director public finance, IRR, Sunil Kumar Sinha said various states have put out their ambition to hit one trillion dollar economy. While Maharashtra aims to attain the mark by 2028, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are eyeing the milestone by 2030 and Karnataka by 2032.
“Similarly, Odisha has also projected its 2023 target. It is the 13th-largest state economy, ahead of Punjab and Bihar. But if the average rate of growth and depreciation of India rupee against dollar in last six years is taken into account, it looks unlikely that Odisha will be able to reach the one trillion dollar economy even by 2047,” he said.
The state’s rank, which dropped from the 14th spot in terms of size of the economy (USD 18.3 billion) in 2005 to 15th position in 2014 at USD 49 billion, went up by two steps to reach at USD 93.7 billion in 2023. It registered a growth rate of 7.8 per cent in 2022-23.
“There are a lot of good things happening in Odisha now. Earlier the state used to be at the bottom of the states in terms of size of economy as well as per capita income. Things have dramatically changed in last 10 to 15 years as the rate of growth has been faster improving the state’s ranking,” said Sinha.
The problem, he observed, lies in the delay in picking up the growth. Since the state began its journey at such a low level, reaching the milestone will be a long-haul and it will not be easy. The kind of growth rate the state requires to achieve the mark is humongous.
“Odisha has to grow at a rate of over 30 pc per year on a real term basis for next five to six years if it aims to attain the one trillion dollar economy by 2030 as projected a few years back. But achieving the growth rate is next to impossible,” Sinha added.
