Planning Commission lauds Gujarat as a 'star performer'

New Delhi, May 24 (UNI) Gujarat's robust economic strides have come in for praise for yet another year by the Planning Commission with a report of the plan panel describing the state as a ''star performer'' and expressing satisfaction over its ''intrinsic strength'' of manufacturing sector and investments in infrastructure.

Gujarat's economic growth post-liberalistion, specifically in the last five years, has evoked admiration in the draft Gujarat Development Report, prepared by Gujarat Institute of Devlopment Research (GIDR) at the behest of the Planning Commission.

Terming the state a ''star performer'' and a ''manufacturing specialist'', the report makes specific mentions of investments in ports, roads, telecom and other infrastructure.

''Export-led growth of the country in the last five years allowed labour-intensive Gujarat manufacturing clusters (diamonds, textiles, garments, cement, ceramics, tiles, plastics, auto ancillaries, drugs and pharmaceuticals) to ride the wave,'' says the report.

A jarring note in the report comes in the form of Gujarat achieving an average growth rate of only 14 per cent in the manufacturing sector despite a potential for crossing the 20 per cent mark.

However, for this under-performance, the report puts the onus on the conservative monetary and exchange rate policies of the Central Government and the RBI.

Calling it a ''policy-induced under-performance'', it says that even tradable policies may have discriminated against manufacturing, Gujarat's intrinsic strength.

Comparing Gujarat with other states, the report finds the western state doing exceedingly well on most economic parameters.

The comparisons have been made against Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

It gives an example of how growing from a much lower level of Rs 11,500 against Rs 13,500 of Maharashtra in 1993, the per capita income of Gujarat crossed that of its neighbour in 2003 and stood at Rs 19,500, a jump of over 70 per cent in a decade growing fastest among its peers.

''Gujarat is in a class by itself. Among its peer states, Gujarat has the highest rate of growth of GDP, manufacturing and per capita SDP. The openness to immigration of labour, and the natural advantage of much land with little alternative use, local entrepreneurship, state support and local politics that is not against capital are significant factors,'' says the chapter on'Economic Performance of Gujarat in recent times''.

In the making for the last two years, the draft report is now with the mandarins of the Planning Commission for a final perusal and comments before finalisation. The work was carried out under the overall guidance of Planning Commission Member (west) B N Yugandhar.

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