Post Art 370 abrogation, J&K’s GSDP doubled to over Rs 2.25 lakh Cr in 5 yrs: Home Minister

Jammu, Dec 9: J&K’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) has doubled to over Rs 2.25 lakh Cr, which was Rs 1 lakh Cr before the abrogation of Article 370, in just five years.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah had shared this information with the Lok Sabha on December 6, while citing the significant indicators of changes in J&K, during the last nine years of the government led by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, particularly following the abrogation of Article 370.

GSDP is an important indicator to measure the growth of different sectors of the economy and socio-economic development.
It (GSDP) is a measure in monetary terms - the sum total volume of all finished goods and services produced during a given period of time, usually a year, within the geographical boundaries off the State
(Union Territory), accounted without duplication.

Shah, while replying to debate on Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill, 2023 and Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization (Amendment) Bill, 2023, had stated, “Before the abrogation of Article 370, GSDP was Rs 1 lakh Crore, which has doubled in just 5 years to Rs 2,27,927 Cr today.”

Notably, J&K’s Economic Survey 2022-23, earlier this year, too had mentioned that GSDP of J&K was expected to grow at 8 per cent as against 7 per cent at national level during 2022-23 at Constant Prices. “At Current Prices, GSDP of J&K is expected to record a growth of 15 percent which is at par with national level. Compounded annual growth rate of 5.7 per cent recorded in J&K from 2014-15 to 2021-22 which is better than national average of 5.1 per cent and most of the northern states. Ø per capita income of UT (Rs 165755 GSDP at current) is growing fast and is catching national level Income (Rs 196716 GSDP at current). J&K has progressed 6 percentage points in Per Capita Income (PCI) from 2014-15 to 2022-23 (i.e. PCI increased from 72 per cent to 78 per cent). Ø J&K is actively contributing to the GDP (0.8 per cent) in proportion to its population (0.98 per cent),” the Economic Survey 2022-23 has stated.

“The GSDP of UT is expected to double by the year 2027-28 with special emphasis on Agriculture, Horticulture, Tourism, Industries and Service Sector,” it has predicted.
“J&K is an agrarian economy and more than half the workforce is engaged in agricultural activities. Government is making every effort to turnaround the agriculture sector by making investments in various vital areas, based on the recommendations of the Dr Mangla Rai Committee, which will double the contribution to GSDP resulting in doubling the farmers income. The silver lining in agriculture is to switch over to cash crops and increase production and productivity of fruit crops and vegetables yielding higher returns,” it has further pointed out.
Besides GSDP, Shah had focussed on other indicators from different sectors as well to elucidate his point that J&K was “marching forward on the path of development with an amazing pace, which was obstructed by Article 370.”

“Earlier, there were 94 degree colleges, today there are 147; Jammu and Kashmir became the first state to have IIT, IIM and 2 AIIMS. In the last 70 years there were only 4 medical colleges, now 7 new medical colleges have been built. 15 new nursing colleges have been established, earlier the medical seats were 500, now after the abolition of Article 370, 800 more seats have been added. PG seats were 367, and the Modi government has done the work of adding 397 new seats,” the Union Home Minister had said.

According to him, earlier about 6 lakh people used to get a mid-day meal, at present 9,13,000 people were getting a mid-day meal. “The average of Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana was 158 kilometers, now it has become 8,068 kilometers per year. 24,000 houses were given in 70 years, in the last 5 years the Modi government had given houses to 1,45,000 people. In 70 years, the earlier governments provided drinking water to 7,82,000 people, now the Modi government provided drinking water to 13 lakh families,” he had said.

The Union Home Minister maintained that the Modi government did the work of bringing down the infant mortality rate from 22 to 14.30. “Earlier there were 47 Jan Aushadhi centres, now people are getting cheap medicines at 227 Jan Aushadhi centres. Youth participation in sports has increased from 2 lakh to 60 lakh. Pension beneficiaries have increased from 6 lakh to 10 lakh,” he had pointed out, while enlisting positive indicators of change in J&K.

Shah’s assertion was that in 2014 Prime Minister Narendra Modi started 63 projects at a cost of Rs 80,000 Cr for the development of Jammu and Kashmir, including projects related to electricity, infrastructure, irrigation, education and medical facilities. Of these, 9 projects costing about Rs 21,000 Cr were in Ladakh. “32 projects of Jammu and Kashmir, worth Rs 58,477 crore have almost been completed and out of Rs 58,000, the expenditure of Rs 45,800 crore has been utilised. Investments have been made in hydro projects in the last 10 years like 642 MW Kiru Hydro Project worth Rs 4,987 crore with a target of 5000 MW, 540 MW Kwar Hydro Project at a cost of Rs 5000 crore, 850 MW Ratle Highway Project at a cost of Rs 5,200 crore, 1000 MW Sopak Dal Hydro Project at a cost of Rs 8,112 crore, 1856 MW Sawalkot Hydro Project at a cost of Rs 2300 crore and Shahpur Kandi Dam Irrigation and Power Project at a cost Rs 2793 crore,” the Union Home Minister mentioned.

“For the first time, a project has been started there to obtain 1600 MW solar energy, 38 group stations have been constructed, 467 kilometers of new transmission lines have been laid, 266 Up stations have been built and work of securing the 11000 circuit kilometers of ST and IT lines have been done by the government led by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Shah said.

How sensitive was the central government to the needs and aspirations of J&K, to delineate this, he had particularly mentioned that across the country, the government was bearing the entire cost of treatment up to Rs 5 lakh for poor people specifically, but in Jammu and Kashmir, the government was bearing the treatment cost of all the people up to Rs 5 lakh.

Bottomline of his assertions was that all these changes were made only by the Narendra Modi government after the removal of Article 370. “After the removal of Article 370, terrorism reduced in Kashmir due to which a good atmosphere was created there and huge development was taking place there,” he had sought to explain.