Meghalaya recorded a strong Gross Domestic State Product (GSDP) growth of 8.2 per cent for the financial year 2021-22.
While the growth rate for Meghalaya’s GSDP during 2011-12 to 2017-18 was the slowest among all the states and union territories of India (33rd rank), it grew at a faster rate during 2018-19 to 2020-21.
This is as per published data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regarding GSDP for 33 states and union territories for the period of FY 2021-22 and FY 2020-21 at constant prices.
From the slowest-growing State, Meghalaya went on to become the 19th fastest-growing State in India.
The strong growth of Meghalaya was attributed to the increase in government expenditure.
Since 2018, the State government expenditure has doubled from Rs 9,858 crore in 2017-18 to Rs 18,881 in 2022-23.
An exponential increase in expenditure by almost 50 per cent and large-scale investments taking place, have led the State to record an impressive growth and put the state on the national development pedestal.
The data also revealed a low GSDP which led Meghalaya to rank bottom on the national scale, especially during the period of FY 2013-18.
As per the RBI data on GSDP of states, the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) for Meghalaya’s GSDP during 2011-12 to 2017-18 was 2 per cent, which was the lowest among all the states and union territories of India. However, the State grew at a faster rate during 2018-19 to 2020-21, with an impressive jump of 13 places nationally.
RBI released the GSDP data of all states and union territories for the financial year of 2020-21. As a practice, RBI also releases a 10 year GSDP for all states and union territories from which the CAGR can be calculated.
Meghalaya’s growth has been slow during the period, however upon detailed analysis reveals that the slow growth rate can be attributed to the period of FY 2013-2015. The State has further recovered and witnessed strong economic growth during FY 2021-22.
