Vibrant Gujarat? State industries' net value added slips into the negative for two consecutive years

By Rajiv Shah

Gujarat industry’s net value added (NVA), which is calculated by deducting all the depreciation charges – including consumption of fixed capital such as on raw materials, power and other inputs – has suddenly gone into the minus, surprising many an economist. The latest Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) data, put out in the first week of this month, suggest that NVA, which economists consider as “indicating the actual investment potential of a sector of economy”, has gone into the negative for two consecutive years continuously. It was minus (--) 0.64 per cent in 2010-11 and, again, minus (--) 1.72 per cent in 2011-12. The ASI is the principal source of data on various aspects of registered industrial establishments. They are part of the annual exercise by the Government of India’s Central Statistics Office’s industrial statistics wing.
The fresh data showing poor investment potential of Gujarat in the industrial sector suggests that, after a drastic rise in the recent past, the sector may be experiencing stagnation, though economists would like to wait to reach such a conclusion. Yet, the fact is, the negative growth of the NVA of Gujarat industries in 2011-12 stands in sharp contrast to 18.69 per cent rise in the NVA of the country as a whole, with several states’ NVA rising by a whopping 152.47 per cent (Karnataka), 127.92 per cent (Rajasthan), Punjab (61.86 per cent), Bihar (27.83 per cent), and Haryana (20.96 per cent). In fact, Gujarat was one of the five states whose NVA went into minus in 2011-12, other states being Uttar Pradesh (--16.30 per cent), Jharkhand (--13.91 per cent), West Bengal (--2.29 per cent), and Assam (1.88 per cent).
Gujarat’s poor showing in NVA has come even as the state’s overall rank in the total amount of net value added in rupee terms slipped from No 2 in the country to No 3. Maharashtra has consistently maintained its No 1 position. In 2011-12, Maharashtra’s NVA was Rs 1.54 lakh crore, and at Rs 1.49 lakh crore in 2010-11. In 2011-12, Karnataka eased out Gujarat as No 2. In 2010-11, Gujarat’s NVA stood at Rs 89,447 crore, while No 3 was Karnataka at Rs 71,993 crore. But in 2011-12, Karnataka snatched away Gujarat’s No 2 position by registering NVA of Rs 1.03 lakh crore. Gujarat, which went into the negative, on the other hand, registered an NVA of Rs 87,909 crore, going into the negative.
Significantly, Gujarat’s NVA stagnated for two consecutive years after its industries registered a very healthy rise in NVA of 49.01 per cent in 2009-10. The rise came about following negative NVA in the previous year, of – 2.72 per cent in 2008-09. Even then, it is a fact that the ASI figures 1998-99 onwards suggest that Gujarat’s NVA registered an impressive growth of 14.5 per cent per annum till 2011-12. Prof Indira Hirway, a senior economist, told Counterview, “The data suggest that the investment climate might have suffered a setback over the two years in question. However, good investment cannot always be a continuous process each year. It has its own ups and downs. Hence, it is always advisable to calculate NVA taking a long-term period to know the exact situation.”
There is a distinct view among Gujarat-based economic experts that the state’s own home-grown industry has not been growing particularly consistently over the last few years. This view has been openly expressed by senior economic consultant Sunil Parikh in different open forums. In its drive to attract outside investment through bi-annual state-sponsored Vibrant Gujarat summits, Parikh believes, the investors from outside the state have been able to take away a bigger part of the cake, while the state’s own industries showed a degree of stagnation. There is, however, no word or analysis from the government over the tangled issue, as it would be politically dangerous to trigger its nuances at time when Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi is BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate in ensuring Lok Sabha polls.

Comments

Gujarat Information Commission issues warning against misinterpretation of RTI orders

By A Representative The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has issued a press note clarifying that its orders limiting the number of Right to Information (RTI) applications for certain individuals apply only to those specific applicants. The GIC has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any public officials who misinterpret these orders to deny information to other citizens. The press note, signed by GIC Secretary Jaideep Dwivedi, states that the Right to Information Act, 2005, is a powerful tool for promoting transparency and accountability in public administration. However, the commission has observed that some applicants are misusing the act by filing an excessive number of applications, which disproportionately consumes the time and resources of Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and the commission itself. This misuse can cause delays for genuine applicants seeking justice. In response to this issue, and in acc...

'MGNREGA crisis deepening': NSM demands fair wages and end to digital exclusions

By A Representative The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of independent unions of MGNREGA workers, has warned that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing a “severe crisis” due to persistent neglect and restrictive measures imposed by the Union Government.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Gandhiji quoted as saying his anti-untouchability view has little space for inter-dining with "lower" castes

By A Representative A senior activist close to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has defended top Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy’s controversial utterance on Gandhiji that “his doctrine of nonviolence was based on an acceptance of the most brutal social hierarchy the world has ever known, the caste system.” Surprised at the police seeking video footage and transcript of Roy’s Mahatma Ayyankali memorial lecture at the Kerala University on July 17, Nandini K Oza in a recent blog quotes from available sources to “prove” that Gandhiji indeed believed in “removal of untouchability within the caste system.”

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification.

Subject to geological upheaval, the time to listen to the Himalayas has already passed

By Rajkumar Sinha* The people of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, who have somehow survived the onslaught of reckless development so far, are crying out in despair that within the next ten to fifteen years their very existence will vanish. If one carefully follows the news coming from these two Himalayan states these days, this painful cry does not appear exaggerated. How did these prosperous and peaceful states reach such a tragic condition? What feats of our policymakers and politicians pushed these states to the brink of destruction?

India's health workers have no legal right for their protection, regrets NGO network

Counterview Desk In a letter to Union labour and employment minister Santosh Gangwar, the civil rights group Occupational and Environmental Health Network of India (OEHNI), writing against the backdrop of strike by Bhabha hospital heath care workers, has insisted that they should be given “clear legal right for their protection”.

'Centre criminally negligent': SKM demands national disaster declaration in flood-hit states

By A Representative The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) has urged the Centre to immediately declare the recent floods and landslides in Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, and Haryana as a national disaster, warning that the delay in doing so has deepened the suffering of the affected population.

Rally in Patna: Non-farmer bodies to highlight plight of agriculture in Eastern India ahead of march to Parliament

P Sainath By A Representative Ahead of the march to Parliament on November 29-30, 2018, organized by over 210 farmer and agricultural worker organisations of the country demanding a 21-day special session of Parliament to deliberate on remedial measures for safeguarding the interest of farm, farmers and agricultural workers, a mass rally been organized for November 23, Gandhi Sangrahalaya (Gandhi Museum), Gandhi Maidan, Patna. Say the organizers, the Eastern region merits special attention, because, while crisis of farmers and agricultural workers in Western, Southern and Northern India has received some attention in the media and central legislature, the plight of those in the Eastern region of the country (Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Eastern UP) has remained on the margins. To be addressed by P Sainath, founder of People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI), a statement issued ahead of the rally says, the Eastern India was the most prosperous regi...

Counterview

Search This Blog