Dehradun: Uttarakhand has emerged as the top state in the country in terms of growth in the industry and service sectors in the last ten years, says an Assocham study.
The study which covers a period of ten years from 2004-05 to 2014-15 said Uttarakhand has emerged at the top by clocking the highest compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.5 per cent and 12.3 per cent in industry and services sectors during the period among states across India.
The state, one of the smallest in the country, also did much better than the national average growth of about 7 per cent during the period, it said.
"Uttarakhand has registered remarkable economic growth and industrial development as the state has recorded CAGR of over 12 per cent during the afore-mentioned period which is the highest among major states in India," claimed the study titled "Uttarakhand On Expressway To Growth".
"Uttarakhand's contribution to India's economy has also marginally increased from just about 0.8 per cent in 2004-2005 to 1.2 per cent in 2013-14, Assocham National Secretary General D S Rawat said after releasing the document.
Services sector which includes hospitality and tourism, hotels and restaurants, transport, storage, communication, banking and finance and other such activities accounted for 51 per cent share in gross state domestic product (GSDP) in 2014-15 thereby increasing from 49.5 per cent in 2004-05, he said.
"Tourism and hospitality being a major segment under the services sector in Uttarakhand and also the mainstay of its economy, it is heartening to note that domestic and foreign tourists, arrival in the state has picked up after it was hit by massive floods and landslides in June 2013, mostly due to swift action by the state government," said Babu Lal Jain who heads Assocham's Uttarakhand Development Task Force which carried out the study.
However, Uttarakhand's performance in the agriculture sector and allied activities paints a grim picture as its share in the GSDP has declined sharply from over 22 per cent in 2004-2005 to just over 9 per cent in 2014-15, the Assocham study said.
Besides, the agriculture sector in the state has recorded a poor CAGR of just about three per cent between 2004-05 and 2014-15 largely due to sandy soils that do not retain water for long which hits crop productivity, it said.
"Considering that over 51 per cent of the state's total workforce and about 67 per cent of total rural workers depend directly or indirectly on agriculture for their livelihood, Uttarakhand government should promote a separate policy for hill farming," the study suggested.
The study talks about significant strides taken by the state in the infrastructure sector like boosting the density of roads during the period and its high literacy rate of about 80 per cent but underlines the need to strengthen infrastructure in the health sector.
Uttarakhand has also figured as the second best performing state after Haryana in terms of project implementation.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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