Telangana 3rd highest in Per Capita Income, surpasses 8 states, says Harish Rao

HYDERABAD: Minister for Finance T Harish Rao said that the per capita income (PCI) of the State of Telangana at the time of formation was only Rs 1,12,162 and reached Rs 3,12,398 during the current fiscal.

Similarly, the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) which was a mere Rs 4,51,580 crore in 2014, grew and reached Rs 13,13,391 crore, he said.

Answering a question raised by Chennur MLA Balka Suman in Legislative Assembly on Saturday, the Minister said that the State surpassed eight States Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamilnadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Uttara Khand, and Haryana to reach third position in the country according to the latest statistics released by the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Comparing the PCI of Telangana with that of national average of Rs 1,72,276, Harish Rao said that the BJP-led Centre must introspect its policies. “The other two States above us Goa and Sikkim are small and being a bigger State, Telangana is a de-facto topper,” he said.

“The per capita income which is an indicator of the growing GSDP, increased because of tremendous growth achieved by Telangana under the leadership of Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao in agriculture, manufacturing, industries, service and IT sectors,” Harish said.

Attributing the better financial results of Telangana to debt to GDP ratio, he said that Telangana spent 20 percent more on productive projects such as irrigation, power and drinking water compared to other States in the country.

Harish Rao informed the house that the Centre owed Rs 800 crore to the State in the shape of GST and IGST. Answering a question on the debt position of the State, Harish Rao said that Telangana came fifth from the last of the States with the least debt.