AP GDP Rate 5% Ahead Of National Average

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu today announced that the State registered 12.23% GDP rate, which was 5% more compared to the rest of India, despite post-bifurcation losses.

At a meeting held with Principal Secretaries, Secretaries and heads of various departments at the Velagapudi Secretariat, the Chief Minister discussed the State's achievement during the first half of the year. A detailed roadmap was laid to achieve a growth rate of 15.28% in the near future. But due to insufficient rainfall and bifurcation of united AP, the State expected a growth rate of 12.46%. But the State achieved only 12.23% growth rate, the Chief Minister. But the good news was that the percentage was 5% more than the national average, he added.

The Chief Minister congratulated the Energy department as it performed the best, and appealed to other departments to take a cue from it.

Elaborating on the growth in other departments, Naidu said that due to various water conservation activities including Neeru Chettu and Panta Sanjeevani taken up during the last few months, agriculture had shown an impressive growth. He said that if those activities were to be carried out without further interruptions, high growth rates would soon be achieved by the agriculture and allied sectors.

Interestingly, although the water sector was given a tight budget, it still spiked the growth chart, which ought be an inspiration for other departments, the CM said.

The Chief Minister laid down 15 key principles for Kutumba Vikasam, 10 principles for Samaja Vikasam and 17 other goals for sustainable development.

To further increase the growth rate of the State, the Minister suggested increasing the threshold wage. "My another goal is to hike the minimum wage of each working individual to Rs. 10,000 a month," he said.

He also cited employment as a major contributor to the State's growth. He said that the ongoing projects in the State including the national Polavaram project, irrigation projects, Amaravathi construction, housing scheme and CC road construction needed a large number of workers, which will be an amazing opportunity for the unemployed.

Naidu also said that In order to achieve the desired growth rate, several dormant industrial projects must be grounded for the time being and the focus ought to be shifted on promoting milk production, which was the State's highest revenue earner.

Besides, the Chief Minister suggested that selling of red sanders was another way of increasing GAV under forest sector.