State Of Economic Development In Haryana Economics Essay

The Haryana State has been carved out of the Punjab State (India) and came into existence on Novemebr1, 1966. The total geographical area of the State is 44,222 sq. km. constituting about 1.3% of the total geographical area of the country. Chandigarh is the capital of Haryana is also the union territory of India. The main economy of the state since the times when the Aryans came and inhabited here has been agriculture and animal husbandry. Since the earliest times, the region has been playing a vital role in the economic growth of India and has contributed significantly in the agricultural development of this country. Though, archaeological evidences reveal that agriculture was being practiced in this region earlier than the Harappan culture, the earliest literary reference is found in the Vaman-Purana. The state has 19 districts which are as follows:

Sonepat

Rohtak

Hisar

Ambala

Bhiwani

Sirsa

Yamunanagar

Kurukshetra

Panipat

Karnal

Kaithal

Jind

Jhajjar

Fatehabad

Mahendragarh

Rewari

Gurgaon

Panchkula

Faridabad

Geographically, Haryana is bounded by the Shiwalik Hills in the North, the Aravali Hills in the South, Yamuna river in the East and the Thar-desert in the West. Due to this reason there are different kinds of soils which have different kinds of soils fertilities in different regions. Haryana is primarily an alluvial plain. Soils constitute its major natural resource and agriculture is its main-stay. It is bounded on the north by Punjab State, on the south and southwest by Rajasthan State, on the north-east by Himachal Pradesh, on the south-east by Delhi and the Yamuna River forms a natural boundary in the east separating Uttar Pradesh. The districts of Bhiwani, Hisar and Fatehabad have less fertile soil as these have desert soil because these districts are located on the border of Rajasthan (Thar Desert). On the other hand the districts of Sonepat, Panipat, and Karnal have very fertile soil because from Sonepat and Panipat the Yamuna river flows, also from Karnal and Ambala there are various other rivers which flows, which increases the fertility of the soil. Since the discovery of agriculture [1] by man it has been the source of perpetual creation on which human civilization depends. The Neolithic man learned to control and use fire, obtained a foot-hold in the forests. He invented wheel, iron, axe, plough-share and animal power for agricultural development and environmental modifications which made it possible for him to live in selected areas, forming a society and growing a significant portion of his food nearby. He burnt and cut jungles and cultivated crops. During chalcolithic [2] period, basic agricultural techniques were developed. The system of nomadic shifting cultivation gave way to cereal-fallow shifting cultivation. Irrigated farming was developed. Since the ancient times and till today there have been vast technological changes in the country in the field of agriculture and especially after the Green Revolution in the country. The equipments of the agriculture have shifted from iron plough-share and sickles to the tractors and farming thrashers in Haryana and in many other parts of the country. But these technological advances cannot be seen in many other states like Orissa, Jharkhand and many other poor states. Haryana has a rich legacy of sustainable agricultural development, based on the strategic location of the region and the wisdom of its people, who faced time and again nature-made as well as man-made calamities such as droughts, famines and other difficulties.

Economic Summary

Haryana has had a good economic growth rate since past many decades. Between 1994 and 2003 the economic growth rate of the state was 6.5 percent per annum. [3] During the time when Chaudhary Omprakash Chautala was the chief minister an economic slowdown was witnessed in the state. The industries which were located in the state started to move in other states as there were conditions of lawlessness. Also corruption was increasing at that point of time.

Brief overview of the political system and its impact on the growth

One thing has always been seen in the history of Haryana, that the politicians of Haryana have always favored and developed a particular part of the state i.e. the politicians have always concentrated growth of particular district or only a few districts of the state. This can be witnessed from the way the state’s growth has taken place not only in the past but till now. Before all the chief ministers of the state were either from Bhiwani, Hisar, Sirsa, Fatehabad or these were the constituencies were the districts mentioned above. Due to these reasons most of the budgets of the state were spent on these places and these places witness one of the best infractures in the past and the best educational institutions. The Haryana Agricultural University which situated in Hisar district of the state was at one time recognized as one of the best agricultural university of Asia.

This thing can also been seen with the current Congress government in place. Chief Minister Bhupendra Singh Hooda who is currently heading the government and won the elections from the Rohtak district, has been concentrating on the development of the Rohtak district and its nearby areas which are of political importance to this man. There were total eleven flyovers t be built in the state out of which seven were built in the Rohtak city itself. The development of the district can be seen from the amount of the work done in the city and from the focus of the government in trying to pull maximum of industries in the city and in nearby places like Jhajjar and Bhadargarh. The government allocated the land of IIM which was supposed to come in the state in the Rohtak district. There are no proofs available to show the partiality of the politicians which has been going on from decades in the state but the facts speak for themselves.

Advantages of Haryana

One third of the area of the state falls within the National Capital Region (NCR). This of great significance and importance as there is separate budget for the development of the NCR region which is given by the central government. Haryana became the first state in the country to introduce Value Added Tax in 2003. Key sectors in the state include automobile and auto components, textiles and readymade garments, information technology and information technology enabled services. The state produces half of the cars and two-wheelers produced in India. It is also the third largest exporter of software services in India. [4] 

Haryana is one of the fastest growing economies of the Indian state. The state is focusing mainly on the industrial infracture since the time the congress government came in power and has succeeded in providing industrial development friendly and conducive environment.

Haryana has the highest per capita investment which is currently Rs 78,500 which is the highest per capita investment in the country. Also there have been a number of IT parks, food parks, SEZ’s setup in the state. These include 98 new big and medium scale and 7913 small scale industries. The economy of Haryana relies on manufacturing, business process outsourcing, agriculture and retail. In 2006-07 Haryana received a foreign direct investment projects of over Rs 11,000 crore in the state and corporate sector and had a fiscal deficit of 0.6 per cent in financial year 2006-07. [5] Also Reliance industries has plan to setup one of the largest SEZ’s in the country in Haryana in 25,000 hectares of land for which the land had already been acquired. Haryana also topped the list in terms of per capita investment in the fiscal year 2007 with an investment of Rs 1,86,045 crore.

Also apart from this there are various other factors which are responsible for the growth of the state like the nearest international airport which is located in Delhi, as Haryana’s major part of the land lies in the national capital region so it is very convenient for the businesses to grow due to the location of the airport.

Haryana is the largest producers of cars and bikes in India. About 50 percent of the cars and about 50 percent of the bikes are manufactured in Haryana.

Haryana also is the third largest producer of IT/ITES facilities according to the IBEF.

Haryana is the largest exporter of Basmati Rice which is a major contribution to the agricultural sector.

State Economy (Detail)

The State economy has started showing signs of resurgence after witnessing financial stress during the year 2008-09 and 2009-10. As per quick estimates the GSDP has grown at 9.9% in real terms during 2009-10 and Per Capita Income (PCI) growth is estimated at 8.2%. The advanced estimates show that the GSDP at constant prices for the 2010-11 is likely to grow at 9% and Per Capita Income is likely to grow at 7.2% which will be a major growth of the state. Haryana has the highest per capita income amongst major states of the country which shows the growth of the state. The contribution of various sectors in 2010-2011 is:

service sector 53.5%

industry sector 30.8% and

agriculture sector 14.9%

Power Sector

The state had always been suffering from power shortage and this was the reason due to which there was less industrial growth before. Now in the last few years there have been various power plants which have been setup which has improved the situation of power with less power cuts in state.

Power has emerged as the cornerstone of prosperity, progress and development of the State. The rising aspirations of the people reflect the need for adequate and good quality power. Therefore, our Government has accorded the highest priority to this sector. In the period from 1999 to 2005, only 724.4 MW was added to the own generation capacity of Haryana, whereas, during the five years of tenure of the new congress government, it has added 1643 MW.

Haryana became the first State in the country to achieve 100 per cent rural electrification in 1970. Starting with 20,000 tubewells in 1966 there were 4.51 lakh tubewells in March 2008. The average power availability during 2008-09 was 743.45 lakh units a day. The number of consumers in 2007-08 was 42.70 lakh. The installed generation capacity as on 31 March 2009 was 4636.23 MW.

 The two units of 1200 MW Rajiv Gandhi Thermal Power Project at Khedar, Hisar were commissioned in April, 2010 and October, 2010 in a record period of 38 months and 44 months respectively.  Power from this plant has given substantial relief to the consumers in the State.

The 1500 MW Indira Gandhi Super Thermal Power Project is being set up in Jhajjar as a joint venture of Government of Haryana, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi and NTPC. The first unit of this project of 500 MW was commissioned on Haryana Day i.e.

1st November, 2010.  The other two units of the plant are likely to be functional by 2011 and 2012 according to the finance minister of the state.  Also, two units of 660 MW each of Mahatma Gandhi Super Thermal Power Project in Jhajjar are also under construction.  The Nuclear Power Corporation of India is going ahead with Phase-I of the Nuclear Power Plant at village Gorakhpur in district Fatehabad with setting up of two units of 700 MW each which will increase the supply of electricity in the state as well as for Delhi. A sum of Rs4962.06 crore was allocated or the power sector for setting up of power plants for 2011-2012 by the state government in its budget.

Roads connectivity, buildings and bus service

Haryana bus service is considered to be the best bus service in the country. Haryana Roadways Transport Corporation is a public corporation and it runs the bus service in the state. The corporation provides the services not only in between the cities but also there is daily bus service which connects all the villages of the state to the cities. There are a total of 3400 busses in the state owned by this corporation which operate from 20 depots and 16 sub-depots. It has a setup of 92 modern bus stands all over the state besides a number of bus queue shelters for passenger amenities and comfort. The Haryana Roadways operates about 11 lakh kms daily and carries more than 11 lakh passengers every day with a staff of 16,815. Also the number of busses will be increasing from 3400 to 4500 as government is going to buy 1100 more buses.

Haryana Roadways is providing free/ concessional traveling facilities as a social obligation to the deserving sections of the society like students, unemployed youth going for interviews, 100% handicapped persons along with one attendant, freedom fighters, national/ state level award winner sports persons, press correspondents, police / jail staff etc. The Govt. has extended free travel facility to the women and their children up to the age of 15 years on Raksha Bandhan. The 50% concession in bus fare has also been allowed to the women above the age of 60 years.

This has been possible due to the road connectivity which is spread all over the state. In Haryana all villages stand connected with major roads. The length of roads in the State is more than 34,772 kms. Also there are various state highways and national highways which are under construction currently along with the expressways. These roads and highways will connect the state industrial parks and major citites to the other cities which is very important for the growth of the industrial sector as the connectivity is a major factor for setting of industries.

Overarching infrastructure projects steered by the HSIIDC, such as the KMP Expressway and the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor would open up newer opportunities of investment and growth. Under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) project, a band of 150-200 kms is envisaged to be developed on both sides of the Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC) to create a base with globally competitive environment and state-of-the-art infrastructure. Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) between Gurgaon and Rewari is also one of the major projects which will bring in more investment in the state.

According to the financial budget which was proposed by the finance minister, Haryana Govt. has taken up about 150 new buildings of various departments during the current financial year.  About 365 buildings were under construction at the start of this financial year. These buildings include Judicial Complexes, District Administrative Blocks, Hospitals, Polytechnics, ITIs, Colleges, Community Health Centers, Primary Health Centers and Sub Health Centers. Out of these, 137 buildings have been completed under National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) as per Indian Public Health (IPH) standards spending ` 135 crore. Land for these buildings was provided by the village panchayat free of cost. Also 142 buildings have already been completed and another 40 buildings will be completed during current financial year.

Also Haryana was the first state in the country which allocated free land to the people living under the poverty line i.e. BPL (below poverty line). The state government allocated the pots of 100yards to each family who did not have had land to live.

Education Sector