Bihar shows positive growth rate even during pandemic year: Data

State registered a positive growth rate of 2.5% in its gross state domestic product during 2020-21, the period during which the Indian economy shrank by 7.3% under the impact of Covid-19, a senior official said.

Bihar, despite being ranked at the bottom in the Niti Ayog developmental index, has done better than many other big states on the economic front in the pandemic year, having registered a positive growth rate of 2.5% in its gross state domestic product (GSDP) during 2020-21, the period during which the Indian economy shrank by 7.3% under the impact of Covid-19, a senior finance department official said, citing the latest statistics of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI).

NITI Aayog building in New Delhi. (Hindustan Times)

This will be reflected in the Bihar Economic Survey to be released during the Budget session of the state legislature later this month, the official said.

“I have seen the statistics and it is highly encouraging. It reflects how the state maintained its spending on key sectors affecting the common man even in the face of severe odds due to pandemic. Bihar remains one of the best states in fiscal management even as many other states have shown negative growth,” said S Siddharth, additional chief secretary, department of finance, government of Bihar.

The year 2020-21 saw the first wave of Covid-19 that led to restrictions on economic activities due to lockdown.

However, Bihar’s gross state domestic product (GSDP) at constant (2011-12) prices increased from ₹4,09,644.60 crore in 2019-20 to ₹4,19,883.13 crore in 2020-21.

“Contrary to the perception, the state economy is largely dominated by the tertiary sector (61.5%), whereas the primary and secondary sectors have a share of 19% and 19.5%, respectively. The Gross State Value Addition (GSVA) in the primary sector remained unchanged during the year on the back of a robust 11.9% growth in the livestock sector and 6.6% growth in fishing and aquaculture even during the pandemic. Similar to the negative growth trend during the previous two years, the crops sector declined by 1.8%. However the decline is lower than 5.9% in 2018-19 and 6.4% in 2019-20. On the other hand, the secondary sector, which includes manufacturing and construction, increased by 2.2% in 2020-21,” said Sudhanshu Kumar, economist & associate professor, Centre for Economic Policy and Public Finance (CEPPF), Patna.

Sector wise

He said the growth pattern in the tertiary sector of the state economy presents two different pictures. The sectors supported by the government expenditure and private consumption increased at a rate no less than the previous years. On the other hand, sectors representing the economic activities of the private sector show a decline in 2020-21 over the previous year, Kumar said.

Earlier, Bihar was ranked 15th among 18 major states (Group A and B category together) and 6th in Group B states, as per the latest Good Governance Index (GGI) for 2020-21, released by the Administration Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Government of India, in December last year. However, Bihar had shown significant improvement in some key sectors despite its low overall ranking. It was ranked first on indicators associated with public infrastructure and utility sector, ahead of states like Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan. The infrastructure & utilities sector includes access to water, rural road connectivity, and electricity-related indicators.