Meghalaya is fourth from bottom in the ranking of the NSE State of States Index 2024 released by the National Stock Exchange. The report reviewed state budgets of 21 states for financial year 2024-25 and the fiscal health of these states.
The states sampled in the report include Meghalaya, Assam, Mizoram, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
The report also indicated a projected fiscal deficit of 3.2 per cent of gross state domestic product (GSDP) for FY25, surpassing the 3 per cent threshold recommended by the 15th Finance Commission.
According to the report, Meghalaya’s fiscal deficit of GSDP continued to exceed the 3 per cent limit prescribed by the Fifteenth Finance Commission.
In 2019, the fiscal deficit of GSDP of Meghalaya was 3.1 per cent which grew to 3.2 per cent in 2020. The fiscal deficit jumped to 7.7 per cent in 2021. In 2022, the fiscal deficit was 5.4 per cent but it rose to 6.0 per cent in 2023. For 2024-25, the fiscal deficit (revised estimate) is expected to be 3.9 per cent and as per budget estimate it was pegged at 3.8 per cent.
The report also ranked Meghalaya’s fiscal health score at 0.26. As per the report, Meghalaya has 20.4 per cent of its own revenue. Capital expenditure is 12.3 per cent of the total expenditure while fiscal surplus is only 1.7 per cent of total GSDP. The State also has 32.7 per cent of outstanding debt of the total GSDP.
Each dimension under consideration in the report is measured using several indicators. Fiscal health captures States’ revenue and expenditure patterns, their dependency on central transfers and overall debt burden.
Given the paramount importance of agriculture in India, the report took several indicators like cropping intensity, share of irrigated area, per worker value addition in agriculture and average yields of food grains to measure agricultural development across states. It also considered the per capita GSDP and share of non-agricultural sectors in gross output to measure contribution of nonagricultural sectors in the development process. The human development indicator (HDI), on the other hand, captures social development of states including educational and health outcomes, whereas infrastructure and financial inclusion play a pivotal role to drive economic growth in the medium- and long-term.
Overall, Kerala and Goa lead in non-farm sectors; while Tripura and Madhya Pradesh have been placed in the bottom: Kerala has been the top performer in non-agricultural sectors closely followed by Goa, Tamil Nadu and Delhi. In Kerala, high share of Construction and Services in GSVA made it the winner, whereas Goa being the top contributor in GSDP per capita and large share of manufacturing sector in GSDP makes it to the second spot.
Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana are among well performing states in this section. In contrast, Tripura has been placed at the bottom with low contribution in Manufacturing and Construction, followed by Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
Punjab being an agrarian state performs weakly in these parameters ranking much lower with a score of 0.29.
Other states that perform poorly are Mizoram, Meghalaya, Assam, Nagaland, Odisha, Rajasthan and Bihar.
Karnataka performed well with a large number of trained teachers: In India, about 79 per cent of teachers in elementary and secondary schools are trained. Assam, Bihar and Sikkim have less than 30 per cent trained teachers at elementary and secondary level.
Karnataka has been placed at the top with 99.66 per cent of trained teachers followed by Punjab (99.14 per cent) and Meghalaya (98.26 per cent). States like Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal have above 90 per cent trained teachers by education level.
