Chennai, Mar 13 (UNI) The first Economic Survey prepared by the State Planning Commission
on Thursday said Tamil Nadu was expected to maintain a growth rate of over eight per cent in
2024-25.
Releasing the report of the survey to the media here today after handing over the report to Chief Minister M K Stalin at the State Secretariat, State Planning Commission Executive Vice Chairman J.Jeyaranjan said the Tamil Nadu economy in 2024-25 faced global headwinds with its innate economic strength.
The pandemic, coupled with geopolitical tensions and extreme weather events, disrupted global supply chains and triggered crisis in the energy and food sectors.
The global economy posted a real growth rate of 3.33% in 2023. India’s economy recorded 7.61%
growth in 2022-23, 9.19% in 2023-24, and 6.48% in 2024-25.
"Building on a strong foundation of inclusive policies, Tamil Nadu has demonstrated remarkable economic resilience, consistently achieving growth rates of 8% or more since 2021-22", it said, adding, the state is expected to maintain a growth rate of above 8% in 2024-25.
Tamil Nadu’s progressive social policies, robust infrastructure facilities, and large skilled labor force have enabled the state to place itself on an elevated economic development trajectory.
With just 4% of India’s land area and 6% of the country’s population, Tamil Nadu contributed 9.21%
to the national GDP in 2023-24.
Its Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) at current prices reached Rs 27.22 lakh crore in 2023-24, posting a nominal growth rate of 13.71% and a real growth rate of 8.33%.
As a major exporter of automobiles and auto components, textiles, and leather, the state’s economy is responsive to global market trends, exhibiting a higher correlation with global economic fluctuations than India’s growth pattern.
In 2022-23, Tamil Nadu’s per capita income was Rs 2.78 lakh, 1.6 times the national average of
Rs 1.69 lakh. It has consistently outpaced the national average over the years.
This makes Tamil Nadu the fourth-largest state in per capita income.
The state’s per capita income is significantly above the national average, the Survey said.
Unlike states like Maharashtra, Karnataka, or West Bengal, where economic activity is concentrated around a single metropolitan hub, Tamil Nadu’s economic development is more evenly distributed across multiple urban centers.
Cities like Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruppur, Tiruchirappalli and Salem contribute significantly to the state’s economy, helping bridge the urban-rural divide.
In 2023-24, the services (tertiary) sector contributed 53.63% of the state’s Gross State Value Added (GSVA), followed by the secondary sector (33.37%) and the primary sector (13%).
As in developed economies, if the state’s secondary sector share increases by about five per cent, employment prospects will likely improve further.
As a highly industrialized and urbanized economy, Tamil Nadu aims to achieve the goal of USD
One trillion economy by 2030.
"With its existing strengths, Tamil Nadu shall accomplish this feat through strategic planning to address challenges like climate change, demographic shifts, technological disruptions, and
changing employment landscapes", it said.
Tamil Nadu also needs to concentrate on developing rural entrepreneurship to spread growth across all the districts of the state, besides leveraging its demographic advantage by increasing the skill endowment of the youth, encouraging women to participate in the workforce, and promoting high value manufacturing and services, including frontier technologies.
It was heartening to note that Tamil Nadu has already started on this growth path with policies for
the semiconductor and advanced electronics industry, creating a business environment to expand sectors like electronics, IT and ITeS, logistics, and renewable energy.
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