HYDERABAD: Telangana made a V-shaped recovery after COVID-19 had adversely impacted its economy and interstate trade. "The recovery in revenue collections was quick in States such as Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, with the value of E-way bills per person hitting previous year’s levels in June," said the Economic Survey tabled in Parliament on Friday.
The survey said that shocks to services-led informal sectors put States like Delhi and Telangana in a vulnerable position during the pandemic. But Telangana recovered faster than most States in the country, it added.
The Economic Survey also addressed the intensity of interstate variations in the impact of COVID-19. The GVA shock intensity - measured as a share in the Gross State Value Added (GSVA) - on the State's agricultural sector in 2019-20 was 12.9 per cent. The same on mining was 3.1 per cent, manufacturing 13 per cent, construction 4.4 per cent, and services 65.3 per cent.
The Economic Survey figures showed that Telangana's performance was above the national average in several indicators, like the Net State Domestic Product (SDP). However, it fared below the national average in public sector banks (PSB) lending to priority sector. The percentage share of advances to priority sector in total bank credit of PSBs up to March, 2020, was just 28 per cent, whereas the national average was 37 per cent.
Survey break-up
According to the survey, the growth of Telangana’s Net SDP was 12.7 per cent, and the national average 7.2 per cent; the per capita Net SDP was Rs 2,28,216, as against the national average of Rs 1,34,226. Meanwhile, the growth of per capita Net SDP was 11.6 per cent with the national average being 6.1 per cent.
The services sector's contribution to the GSVA of the State stood at 65.19 per cent in 2019-20. Telangana's growth in GSVA was 10.25 per cent, placing it second in the country after Tripura. The share of services sector in GSVA has been constantly rising in the State. In 2017-18, it was 63.2 per cent and the growth rate was 10.7 per cent. In 2018-19, it rose to 64.7 per cent with a growth rate of 11.2 per cent.
The Economic Survey also lauded Telangana’s handling of the COVID-19 health crisis, stating it was the second best after Kerala in saving the most number of lives during the pandemic. "With good healthcare facilities and stringent lockdown strategies, the State could reduce the fatalities by a great margin," the survey said.
As per the report, for every 100 deaths estimated due to COVID-19, the State actually recorded only 22.9 deaths, ensuring that nearly 77 deaths were prevented with timely action.
"The report shows that measures of both Centre and State governments have played a pivotal role in combating the virus. Be it the lockdown or the improved healthcare facilities in Telangana, these measured ensured that casualties were minimised," said Dr Subodh Kandamuthan, Professor and Director for Health Care Management, ASCI.
However, questions are being raised about how both the estimates and actual figures were calculated. "When it comes to detecting the extent of spread of the virus, sero surveillance is a better indicator to assess the performance. This is because, a State could be doing more number of tests in areas where a certain degree of immunity has been achieved, and not enough in areas where the cases are actually growing," said Rijo M John, a health economist.
He added that the same could be said about the deaths reported in each State. "Some may have not been recorded," he said.
VIRUS CONTROL
The Economic Survey patted Telangana for its efforts at tackling the pandemic. It said that the State’s strict lockdown measures helped it minimise casualties