Maharashtra’s economic growth slows down to 7.3%, debt balloons to ₹7,82,991 crore

Maharashtra's economic growth is projected at 7.3% for 2024-25, surpassing national growth but facing a decline in sectors like services and manufacturing.

Mumbai: Maharashtra’s economic growth is expected to be 7.3% in 2024-25, according to the Economic Survey presented in the state assembly on Friday. While the state has seen a slowdown in growth between FY2023-24 and FY2024-25 in keeping with the national trend, it has performed better than the projected 6.5% GDP growth at the all-India level.

**EDS: THIRD PARTY IMAGE** In this image by @CMOMaharashtra via X on Monday, March 3, 2025, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis with Deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, and others attend a joint session on the first day of the state Assembly's Budget session, in Mumbai. (@CMOMaharashtra on X via PTI Photo)(PTI03_03_2025_000181B) (@CMOMaharashtra)

The tabling of the Economic Survey is a pre-cursor to the state budget scheduled for March 10 as the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti government tries to balance its populist commitments with the goal of making Maharashtra a $1 trillion (roughly ₹87 lakh crore as per current exchange rate) economy in nominal terms by 2027. The state’s nominal GSDP is expected to be ₹45.3 lakh crore in FY2024-25, while the real GSDP (adjusted for inflation) is estimated to be ₹26.1 lakh crore.

Maharashtra already has the highest GDP share among all states in India, and its per capita income of ₹3.09 lakh in FY2024-25 is significantly higher than the national average of ₹2.35 lakh. In 2023-24, the latest period for which this comparison is given in the state’s Economic Survey, Maharashtra’s per capita GDP was ranked fifth (behind Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat) among the top 10 states by GDP in the country.

However, the state’s economic growth rate has been on the decline for the last two years, from 9.4% in FY2022-23 to 8% in 2023-24 to, now, an estimated 7.3% in 2024-25.

A sector-wise breakup of growth numbers shows that the slowdown in growth is largely a reflection of services and industries (manufacturing), with respective numbers falling from 8.3% and 6.2% in 2023-24 to 7.8% and 4.9% in 2024-25. Agriculture is expected to have grown at 8.7% in 2024-25, the best it has been since the 11.6% in 2020-21.

The share of the services sector in the GSDP has been highest at 63.8% between 2011-12 and 2023-24, followed by agriculture and allied activities at 11.2% and industry at 25%.

Maharashtra’s overall economic prowess notwithstanding, 12 of the 36 state districts remain below the national per capita income, which was ₹1.89 lakh in 2023-24. Only seven districts are above the state average per capita income of ₹2.79 lakh in FY2023-24, while the remaining districts hover between state and national per capita income.

Mumbai recorded the highest per capita income at ₹4.56 lakh, followed by Thane ( ₹3.91 lakh) and Raigad ( ₹3.16 lakh). In the backward Vidarbha districts of Chandrapur and Gachiroli, the per capita income was lowest— ₹2.22 lakh and ₹1.41 lakh, respectively.

The state’s debt burden also seems to be on the rise, with total debt stock expected to reach ₹7.8 lakh crore in 2024-25. The estimated borrowing is expected to increase when the actual budget is presented on March 10, according to officials from the finance department.

“To achieve the target of a $1 trillion economy in the next five years, the GSDP should grow at more than 14%, against which the growth rate has been dipping for the last two years. With the rupee value dwindling, the target of a $1 trillion economy by 2027 becomes a distant dream,” said an official from the planning department.

The Economic Survey also states that the Maharashtra government spent ₹17,506 crore on the Majhi Ladki Bahin populist scheme till December 2024, extending a monthly allowance of ₹1,500 to 23.8 million women. The scheme, launched in August last year, was considered to be a major factor behind the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Mahayuti alliance’s landslide win in November’s assembly elections.

However, the report also highlights the rise in the number of cases of rape, to 7,940 in 2024 from 7,084 in 2022. Similarly, molestation and sexual harassment cases rose to 17,671 in 2024 from 16,083 two years ago.

Maharashtra’s population is estimated to be 128.3 million, which is 9.1% of India’s projected population of 1.41 billion. According to the last census in 2011, the state’s population was 112.4 million.

As of September 2024, Maharashtra’s internet subscriber base was 110.6 million, while the number of mobile phone connections was 125.6 million. As many as 17,552 households in the state have WiFi hotspots, the report stated.

The production of cereals, pulses, oilseeds and cotton is estimated to increase by 49.2%, 48.1%, 26.9% and 10.8%, respectively, in 2024-25. Cereal production grew from 5,478,000 metric tonnes (MT) to 8,172,000 MT, pulses from 1,232,000 MT to 1,824,000 MT, oilseeds from 6,828,000 MT to 8,665,000 MT and cotton from 6,825,000 MT to 8,665,000 MT year-on-year.

Sugarcane production is expected to decrease by 6.6% compared with the previous year, from 112,626,000 MT in 2023-24 to 105,219,000 MT in 2024-25. The irrigation potential created in the state by all types of irrigation projects up to June 2023 was 5.6 million hectares.