5T Initiatives Propel Odisha’s Economic Turnaround, State Economy Doubled In Six Years

Bhubaneswar: The growth story of Odisha continuous with the state emerging as one the best performers in the country in terms of improving and expanding its economy. In the last six years, Odisha’s economic juggernaut has scaled new highs and the state has more than doubled its Gross State Domestic Product. According to a report by the India Ratings and Research, Odisha has managed to neutralize the impact of pandemic and its economy grew the most between FY 2016 and FY2022. The state has more than doubled its economy in the last six years on a nominal basis.

Under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Odisha has been witnessing rapid developments and industrial growth has reached new highs. Odisha’s consistent performance in the last decade has taken state into the best performing league of states in the country. While most of the states lagged behind the national average of economic growth rate during the last two years due to the Covid Pandemic, Odisha’ has achieved highest growth rate of more than seven percent. Odisha’s growth story is going to be more interesting in the coming years as the state’s capital outlay has been increased significantly when compared the to the GSDP between FY 2016 and FY 2022. Odisha’s capital outlay to GSDP averaged 4.3 percent during FY16-FY22.

Another interesting aspect of the growth is that Odisha’s share in India’s GDP has also increased. Odisha has recorded a continuous rise in its GDP and now its share in the country’s DGP stands at 2.8 percent when compared to 2.6 during 2011-12. With the state’s economy projected to rise by more than 7.8 percent in FY 2022-23, Odisha is looking at a robust rise in its GDP.

Odisha’s transformative initiatives taken up in the last few years and the fiscal management practices have helped it to strengthen its economy. Despite the global economic uncertainties amidst geopolitical issues and the pandemic, Odisha managed to become one of the highest growing economies in the country. It is expected that, in real terms, Odisha is going to achieve a growth rate of more than 8 percent during FY 2023-24 in real terms.

In terms of tax collections also, Odisha has been reporting robust growth. The state has recorded forty percent growth in GST collections during February 2023. In March 2023, Odisha recorded a gross GST collection of Rs 4,749.02 crore., recording a 15.14 per cent growth over last year. Odisha’s per capita income is also increasing and the state’s PCI is now estimated at Rs 1, 50,676 as compared to the national PCI of Rs 1, 70,620. The gap is reducing and in the next few years Odisha’s per capita income is projected to be more than the national average and will be among the top ranking states.

Odisha’s remarkable economic turnaround is an outcome of its fiscal management publicities and higher allocation to capital outlay. The thrust on transformation through 5T Initiatives has impacted well in the last few years. The state has been spending hugely on infrastructure development, irrigation projects, welfare schemes and building state resources that will have a positive impact on the overall economy in the coming days.