IT exports help T GSDP beat nat’l GDP growth

Hyderabad: Thanks to a push by the services sector and robust IT and pharma exports, Telangana’s gross state domestic product (GSDP) grew by 10.1% in 2016-17, surpassing the national GDP, which stood at 7.1% by three percentage points.
“As per the advanced estimates released by the directorate of economics and statistics, Telangana’s GSDP at current prices for 2016-17 is estimated at Rs 6.54 lakh crore as against Rs 5.76 lakh crore in the previous year, indicating a growth rate of 13.70%.Telangana’s GSDP at constant prices (2011-12) is estimated at Rs 5.11 lakh crore in 2016-17, compared to the previous year’s estimate of Rs 4.64 lakh crore, thereby registering a growth rate of 10.10%,” the Telangana department of industries and commerce annual report said.
In fact, the share of Telangana’s economy in the national GDP too increased by seven basis points from 4.21% in 2015-16 to 4.28% in 2016-17, industries minister KT Rama Rao said while releasing the report here on Monday.
Speaking about the state’s flagship industrial policy, TS-iPass, that assures single window clearance for industries in a time-bound manner, he said, “TS-iPass, launched in June 2015, has generated Rs 73,000 crore in investments and has created 2.46 lakh jobs in the process,” he said, adding that Telangana was ranked first in the ease of doing business (EODB) 2016 report with a score of 98.78.
On the issue of industrial incentives that have been due, the minister said incentives around Rs 800 crore are due and the department is working towards clearing them.
CII Telangana chairman V Rajanna said, that the services sector, especially IT, has played an important role in the economic growth of the state. “To continue the momentum, I believe that the state government must pay special attention to skills. While the state government is doing good work through TASK, we feel a dedicated ministry on skills will go a long way in meeting the desired objectives of both the government and the industry.”
He said while the state government has a cell for attracting new investments, it can also cater to existing industries via that cell. Hailing the state’s apparoach towards bringing in new investments via TS-iPASS, Ravindra Modi, president of the state’s apex trade and industry body Ftapcci pointed out that Telangana can look at formulating an ‘exit policy’ for industries that fail and want to wrap up their operations. On the occasion, KTR also launched the logo and website for Telangana Industrial Health Clinic Ltd (TIHCL) that will work for the revival and growth of sick manufacturing MSMEs. TIHCL will be registered as a NBFC with a corpus of Rs 100 crore.