Madhya Pradesh overtakes Bihar as India’s fastest-growing state

Madhya Pradesh has pipped Bihar in terms of economic growth this fiscal year, emerging as India's top state in terms of growth of gross (state) domestic product, official statistics say.

Bihar's chief minister Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal (United) has become an emerging icon for turning around the governance of one of India's most economically backward states. He governs the state in partnership with the Bharatiya Janata Dal, but there is little doubt about who calls the shots.

This year however, the general recession and other factors seem to have hit Bihar – its state GDP growth has shrunk from 13.26 per cent last year to 9.48 per cent for the just-ending fiscal, according to data released by the Central Statistical Organisation on Friday.

On the other hand, Madhya Pradesh – another of India's chronically underdeveloped states - has shown a growth of 10 per cent. Its chief minister, Shivraj Singh Chauhan of the Bharatiya Janata Party, is relatively low-profile, but has won some accolades for his efforts.

Other backward states have maintained their upward trajectory, with Jharkhand and Odisha growing at 9.12 per cent and 9.14 per cent respectively this year.

These however are provisional figures - a comprehensive comparison have to wait until growth data comes in from Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Delhi, all of which have maintained robust growth in the past few years.

In Bihar's case, the phenomenal economic expansion it had clocked in recent years shows signs of deceleration. It added Rs13,679 crore to its GDP, taking its economy from Rs144,278 crore in 2011-12 to Rs157,957 crore in the current fiscal.

In comparison, MP fared better, adding more than Rs20,000 crore to its economy during the last one year, and expanding its GDP from Rs2,01,290 crore last year to Rs2,21,463 crore this year.

Growth in per capita income has also been disappointing for Bihar. It has added just Rs1,090 to its per capita income, the lowest among Indian states. In comparison, Jharkhand and MP have seen per capita income rise by more than Rs2,000. Odisha added Rs1,450 in its per capita income.

In the past five years, Bihar has been on a high growth path, consistently recording double-digit rates - 12 per cent in the fiscal to 2009; 11 per cent in 2011; and 13 per cent in 2012. The in-between year 2009-10 saw a low point in recent years, with GDP growth of a modest 7.09 per cent.

Madhya Pradesh has been a consistent performer. It grew by 12.47 per cent in 2008-09; then shrunk to a still respectable 9.88 per cent in 2010, but further to 7.13 per cent the next year. The state bounced back to double-digit growth in 2012, managing a rate of 11.81 per cent in 2011-12.