By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, March 17, 2016 : Higher growth in the Odisha economy in recent years has largely helped the state achieve maximum poverty reduction by 24.6 per cent, according to the Economic Survey 2015-16 tabled in the state Assembly on Thursday by Finance Minister Pradip Kumar Amat.

The industry and service sectors have emerged as main drivers of growth leaving agriculture much behind. The state grew impressively during 2014-15 with a real growth rate of 6.24 per cent at 2011-12 base.

But the growth in agriculture sector has widely varied over the years, the survey said. The sector has registered very low or negative growth in some years, the report said adding that major benefits of the growth in the service sector and the industrial sector flow largely to those sections of population that are educated or have desired employable skills.

Noting that the state economy has been growing at comparatively higher rate since 2002-03 onwards, the report pointed out that the economy grew at an annual real average rate of 8.82 per cent at 2004-05 prices during the 10th plan period and at 7.05 per cent in the 11th plan despite several challenges faced by the state.

The poverty declined in all regions and among all social classes like scheduled tribe, scheduled caste and other backward classes in the state, the report said.

“Poverty Gap Ratio that measures the magnitude of deprivation and helps in overall assessment of a region’s progress in poverty alleviation showed significant improvement from 17.7 in 2004-05 to 7.01 for rural areas in 2011-12 in Odisha,” the survey claimed.

Nevertheless, wide regional, social and general disparities in development continue to be a major concern for the state. All regions have not shared the gains of development in an equitable manner, the report admitted.

Regional, social and gender disparities existed in the state that need to be adequately addressed, the report suggested adding that some regions like KBK (Kalahandi- Bolangir-Koraput) region and some social groups like ST and SC communities, require special focus.

Angul tops the districts with per capital income [PCI]of Rs 40,516. The PCI of 11 districts are higher than the state’s per capital income of Rs 24,542 during 2011-12. Nawrangpur and Malkangiri are the lowest brackets of per capital income with Rs 14,435 and Rs 16,313 respectively.

The mineral rich Sundergarh district leads the districts by contributing maximum 8.79 per cent of total Gross Value Addition (GVA) of the state followed by Khurda district with 7.60 per cent share as per District Domestic Product estimates of 2011-12 at 2004-05 price at factor cost. Deogarh has lowest share of State GVA with 0.62 per cent followed by Boudh (0.67 per cent).

The standard of living in Odisha has improved over the years with rise in real per capita income. The per capita income of the State has also increased and there is a target of 4.95 per cent increase in the per capita income of 2015-16.

However, the report clarified that the continuing gap in the real per capita income between aIndia and Odisha continues to be a matter of concern.