New Delhi: The Economic Survey claimed Orissa in the financial year 2017-18 (April-December) reported the lowest inflation in the country mainly on account of lower Consumer Price Index (CPI) General Inflation in rural Orissa resulting in the lowest combined inflation. However in the urban inflation category, the state is not even in the bottom five.
The survey report said, “Ten states had inflation rate lower than All India average for FY 2017-18 (April- Dec) with Orissa having the lowest inflation followed by UP, Bihar and Chhattisgarh in the descending order.”
The government in the pre-budget document for the first time made public the economic data relating to post-GSTregime. It claimed Orissa does not figure in the top five favoured destinations for exports and imports. Nevertheless, the state is one among the leading states for having internal trade surplus, it said. “The states with the largest internal trade surpluses are Gujarat, Haryana, Maharashtra, Orissa and Tamil Nadu,” it added.
On the agriculture sector, the survey blamed the culture of practice of monoculture in the state for its lower productivity of crops. “The issues related to monoculture as witnessed in Orissa and Punjab are declining productivity, lower fertilizer response ratio, degradation of soil health and declining profitability of cultivation,” it said.
The crop diversification in the state also seems to be faltering on the fields. “There is a decline in inter-temporal behaviour in crop diversification for the states like Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Punjab and UP. Among these states, the decline in the crop diversification index has been sharp for Orissa,” the report said.
The survey, however, claimed Orissa is one among the few states least affected by temperature rise. “Temperature increases have been particularly felt in Northeast, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Parts of India, for example, Punjab, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh have been the least affected. There has been an increase in precipitation in Gujarat and Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.”
Manish Kumar, OP