Indian states: developmental indicators
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Economic freedom
Gujarat is India’s top state in economic freedom
Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar
The Raghuram Rajan Committee on development indicators says Gujarat’s social indicators are just middling. Looking at children of class 3-5 who can do subtraction, Gujarat has declined from 22nd among 28 states in 2006 to 23rd in 2012. However, economist Arvind Panagariya argues that Gujarat has made substantial social progress under Modi, starting from a low base.
One annual report has long provided indicators of governance. This is Economic Freedom of the States of India (EFSI), written by Bibek Debroy, Laveesh Bhandari and Aiyar. The 2013 EFSI report shows Gujarat has been No. 1 in economic freedom for the last three years, widening its lead over others. On a scale from 0 to 1, its overall freedom score has improved from 0.46 to 0.65. Tamil Nadu comes a distant second with 0.54.
Economic freedom is not identical to good governance. But lack of economic freedom typically means poor governance — a jungle of rules and obfuscating bureaucrats that promote corruption, delay and harassment. This hits everybody from farmers and consumers to industrialists and transporters.
What exactly is economic freedom? EFSI uses a methodology adapted from Economic Freedom of the World, an annual publication of the Fraser Institute. Data for Indian states is not available on many issues. So, EFSI limits itself to 20 indicators of the size and efficiency of state governments, their legal structure and property rights, and regulation of labour and business.
Many of these indicators directly measure governance — the proportion of stolen property recovered; proportion of judicial vacancies; proportion of violent crimes; proportion of investigations completed by police and of cases completed by the courts; and the pendency rate of corruption cases. The list is by no means comprehensive, but provides strong clues.
Gujarat has the best record with pendency of corruption cases, and in the proportion of non-violent crime. It is close to the top in completion of police investigations. It scores poorly in judicial vacancies and recovery of stolen property.
Its quality of government spending is high: it has the lowest ratio of administrative GDP to total GDP. Spending is focused on infrastructure rather than staff. Modi’s repeated state election victories show that his approach produces high voter satisfaction.
Gujarat is not a classical free-market state. It has large, expanding public sector companies, and substantial taxes on capital and commodities. It has many subsidies, though fewer than in other states. Still, business thrives in its business-friendly climate.
One businessman told me that in Tamil Nadu, it took six months and several visits (and payments) to ministries for industrial approval. But in Gujarat, the ministry concerned called him the day before his appointment, asking for details of his proposal. Next day, he found the bureaucracy had in advance prepared plans of possible locations for his project, and settled the matter on the spot. This was unthinkable elsewhere, and showed both efficiency and honesty. Corruption has not disappeared in Gujarat, but is muted.
Modi’s Jyotigram scheme provides 24/7 electricity for rural households, plus reliable power at fixed times for tubewells. This explains why Gujarat has India’s fastest agricultural growth (10%/year for a decade, say economists Gulati and Shah). Indian agriculture is crippled by regulations, but Gulati shows that Gujarat has the highest agricultural freedom among states. Modi charges farmers for power, and so all his three state power companies are profitable. By contrast, power companies in other states with free rural power have accumulated losses of almost Rs 200,000 crore.
Critics accuse him of giving cheap land to favoured industrialists. But state and national governments the world over use such sops to attract industries. Unlike most politicians, Modi has clearly not enriched himself.
Good governance includes communal peace. So, the 2002 Muslim killings reflect terribly on Modi. For some, it puts him beyond the pale. But since 2002 the state has been peaceful. In 2011-12, Gujarat had the lowest Muslim rural poverty rate among all states. Its overall poverty rate for Muslims (11.4%) was far lower than for Hindus (17.6%). This was also true of six other states, so Gujarat is not unique in this.
In sum, EFSI and other studies show that Gujarat has good governance. It has social and communal flaws. But it is India’s top state in economic and agricultural freedom..
Investments, attracting the most=
2009-14
The Times of India Jan 02 2016
Tarini Puri
Maharashtra has toppled Gujarat as the most-sought after destination for global and domestic investors.The home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi registered the least growth of just over 2% in investment among the top 21 states across India in the past five years, revealed a report of the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) published recently .
According to the report, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Odisha have emerged as the most lucrative investment destinations. They together account for over one-fourth (26.6%) of the total outstanding investments worth over Rs 154 lakh crore attracted by various sectors from both public and private sources across 21 states as of December 2014, which grew from Rs 105 lakh crore as of December 2009.
“With a share of about 10%, Maharashtra has ranked first attracting investments worth over Rs 15 lakh crore as of December 2014, closely followed by Gujarat (9.2% share). Odisha (7.5%), Karnataka (6.8%) and Tamil Nadu (6.5%) are the other states with a significant share in this regard,“ states the report titled ` A Comparative Analysis of Investment Pattern in States', compiled by the Assocham Economic Research Bureau (AERB).
Maharashtra tops in the real estate investment (21.2% of total) too. A senior industry source said on the condition of anonymity, “The value of Maharashtra's real estate definitely ups its value in terms of total outstanding investment. But going by the number of automobile manufacturing companies, considered as hard-core manufacturing, which have chosen to set up business in Gujarat in the last few years, proves that it still has what it takes for in viting industrial investment.To be truly regarded as industry-friendly , Maharashtra still needs to work on aspects like ensuring round-the-clock power supply and providing a stable political environment.“ Anant Sardeshmukh, director general of Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, said, “With current government working on easing issues rela ted to land availability and acquisition, the industrial scene has definitely picked up.“
Secretary general of Assocham D S Rawat said, “Investment is the key driver of productivity and sustainability that leads to development and growth making most state go vernments to strive to better the investment climate prevailing in their respective states to make them conducive to attract domestic and foreign in vestors.“
Mobility of people
Sprightly Kerala
Mahesh Vyas
The Financial Express Mar 06 2014
Summary: Kerala state outranks others when it comes to mobility of people
Air travel mobility
Delhi is the most mobile state in the country. Its Indira Gandhi International airport is the busiest in the country with a traffic of 34 million passengers in 2012-13. Mumbai comes next with a traffic of 30 million passengers. The rest don't even have half this traffic. Delhi also has the highest teledensity—91%, according to the Census 2011 data.
An appropriate measure of the air travel mobility of a region would be the number of air passengers per million population. However, the available statistics need to be used with some caveats as the mobility could be of outsiders into the region as tourists rather than the local population being mobile. For example, Andaman & Nicobar has a mobility of 1.3 million per million population and Goa has an even better 1.9 million air passengers per million population. The natives of the island would probably not be amused and the Goans may raise a toast to the business prospects of this traffic. But, both are not as mobile as the data suggests. At least not as mobile as is evident at international airports.
Typically, at a Western international airport, one sees people from West Bengal, Gujarat, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Bengalis and Gujaratis are probably the most tourism-oriented people among us.
People from the South are more likely to be found as professionals working overseas, or their families visiting them. But, if you find an Indian gawking at the Colosseum in Rome, tiptoeing along aisles of the Louvre or screaming down those crazy rides in Disney World, she is likely to be a Bengali or a Gujarati.
Our air travel infrastructure seems to be favouring our business interests rather than our outbound tourists. It is possible that the Bengalis and Gujaratis travel from Delhi and Mumbai than from their respective states. Air passengers from West Bengal were 118,000 per million population and those from Gujarat were 85,000 per million population. In comparison, Maharashtra had a traffic of 304,000 per million population and Kerala was 285,000 per million. Even Jammu & Kashmir, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka had higher air passenger traffic compared to those from West Bengal and Gujarat.
If one were to somehow rank all states using a summary measure of the mobility of people, the southern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala would be close contenders for the top slots. Delhi would be high up, too. But then, Delhi is a small state.
Kerala's rail and road density is among the top-three state-wise figures in the country. Its air passenger traffic, at 285,000 per million population, is more than twice the all-India average of 130,000. It ranks sixth out of 23 states and union territories for which such data is available in this respect, but, the five that rank higher than Kerala include Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the city-states of Goa, Delhi and Chandigarh. The only large state that beats Kerala is therefore Maharashtra, that too because of Mumbai.
Kerala has a teledensity of 96%. This is much higher than the all-India figure of 73%. The state ranks fifth in teledensity. Kerala's high ranks in rail and road density, in air traffic and in teledensity makes it the contender for the most mobile state in the country. This statistical nugget sits well with the image of the hardworking, global Malayali who decides to hang her boots in God's Own Country, but possibly keeps working her phone. Its not an idle connection with the average Malayali in Kerala. The state ranks third among all states in terms of average revenue per user.
Tamil Nadu ranks second in terms of teledensity after Delhi. So, among the large states, Tamil Nadu is the top ranker in terms of teledensity. The good quality of its roads offsets partly its not-so-impressive surface transport density. And, its air traffic is also quite impressive at 227,000 per million population compared to the all-India average of 130,000 per million population.
Both these southern states fare much better on mobility statistics compared to the more famous Gujarat or the more touristy Gujarat and West Bengal. Gujarat's passenger air traffic, at 85,000 per million population, is lower than the all-India average, and it is ranked 14th in the list of 23 big states. West Bengal ranks 12th. Gujarat ranks 8th in a list of 18 states in teledensity, while West Bengal ranks 12th, again.
Inter-state comparisons are often dicey. And, comparing mobility across states is a complicated affair. Different modes of transport compete, terrains differ and mere mobility may also be a reflection of poor spatial planning. Independent of how the states stack up on these rankings, there is no doubt that there has been an all-round improvement in transport facilities and therefore of the mobility of Indians. But, this is far from enough to improve the quality of life.
Perhaps, there is one facility for mobility that greatly reflects the quality of public infrastructure and even the quality of life in a city better than anything else. This is the length of sidewalks in a city. We have a new facility in the urban maze of some cities—the skywalk! I find these to be ugly, clunky structures that only further mar the breathing spaces, adding to the space for screaming hoardings in a city. But, that is a different issue. What is pertinent is that it is difficult to find sidewalks in most cities. It is challenging to cross a street unless you are willing to be a nonchalant jaywalker, ears plugged firmly into your mobile phone, scowling menacingly at any vehicle that dares to cross your path and disturb your musical escapade. Mobility has moved far ahead of civility. Good sidewalks and other facilities for easier pedestrian mobility on streets could help correct that to some extent.
All data sourced from statesofindia.cmie.com
The author is CEO and managing director, Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy P Ltd
Social progress index
2016
i)their social progress in 2005, 2016;
ii) fulfilment of basic human needs,
iii) well-being; and
iv) opportunity.
From November 29, 2017: The Times of India
See graphic:
Indian states ranked according to i)their social progress in 2005, 2016; ii) fulfilment of basic human needs, iii) well-being; and iv) opportunity.
