| |
Economy of Uttar Pradesh
The
major economic activity in the state is agriculture and in 1991, 73
percent of the population in the state was engaged in agriculture
and 46 percent of the state income was accounted for by agriculture.
UP has retained its pre-eminent position in the country as a
food-surplus state. The production of foodgrains has increased from
14.5 million metric tons in 1960-61 to 42.5 million tons in 1995-96,
showing an average annual growth rate of 3.1 percent, which is much
higher than the population growth rate. At present, the new Uttar
Pradesh state produces about 92% of the output of the old Uttar
Pradesh state of prior to 1947 partition.
UP has witnessed rapid industrialization in the recent past,
particularly after the launch of policies of economic liberalization
in the country. As of March 1996, there were 1,661 medium and large
industrial undertakings and 296,338 small industrial units employing
1.83 million persons. The per capita state domestic product was
estimated at Rs 7,263 in 1997-98 and there has been visible decline
in poverty in the state. Yet, nearly 40 percent of the total
population lives below the poverty line. Uttar Pradesh's gross state
domestic product for 2004 was $339.5 billion by PPP and $80.9
billion by Nominal, making it the second largest economy in India
after Maharashtra and a bigger economy than many of the world's big
economic players like Israel, Switzerland and Hong Kong.
Uttar Pradesh is a major contributor to the national foodgrain
stock. Partly this is due to the fertile regions of the Indo-Gangetic
plain and partly owing to irrigation measures such as the Ganga
Canal and tubewells. Lakhimpur Kheri is the largest sugar producing
district in the country. It is also home to 78% of national
livestock population. This chart shows the national share of major
food commodities from Uttar Pradesh.
|