Chapter-1 Introduction

Uttarakhand- Its profile-

The state has tremendous potential for developing agro based and forest based industries. It is the first state of India to have created a Tourism Development Board by legislation, as the highest body to function as a promoter, adviser, and regulator and licensing authority for tourism in the state. Uttarakhand Tourism was awarded the prestigious National Tourism Award in the category of ‘Best Practices by a State Government’ by Indian Government in 2003. It has world class Industrial Infrastructure units i.e., Integrated Industrial Estate at BHEL; Integrated Industrial Estate; IT Park; IIDC’s at Dehradun, Haridwar and Pantnagar; Growth Centre at Pauri; ICD at Pantnagar and Haridwar; IIE at Sitarganj. It is home to several important educational institutions, including the oldest engineering colleges in Asia, the IIT, Roorkee and Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar. It also has institutes like, Indian Military Academy, Forest Research Institute, Govind Ballabh Pant Engineering College and Bipin Chandra Tripathi Kumaon Engineering College.

Uttarakhand has progressed steadily since 12 years of its inception as an independent state and its increasing GSDP reflects its progress. The size of state's economy measured by its GSDP for 2011 is estimated at ` 775.8 billion in current prices. Born out of the division of U.P., the new state is producing about 12% of the output of the old UP state. The per capita income stood at ` 15285 in 2000-2001 which rose to ` 42031 in 2009-10 and shot up to ` 68292 in 2010-2011. The per capita GSDP and NSDP rose from ` 29029 lakh to ` 78482 lakh and ` 25255 lakh to ` 68292 lakh respectively during 2005-06 to 2010-11.

Growth rate of 9.31% over the past 5 years has placed the state third all over the country after Gujarat (11.05%) and Bihar (11.03%). But unfortunately the share of primary sector in GSDP has declined drastically to 15% in 2010-11 as compared to 32% and 53% of secondary and tertiary sector respectively. This could be a reflection of the policies adopted at the time of state formation. While the state could be considered to be in a relatively more comfortable position as compared to the other newly formed states of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. But the matter of concern is that the progress of state is not in proportion to its potentials and the state has still not been able to utilize its vast resources and hence rural residents are migrating to the plains/neighbouring states in search of gainful employment. This is the main reason of the low growth rate of the state’s population which is another concern among social scientists, policy-makers and administrators engaged in the development planning of the state.

The migration rate in the state is one of the highest, even at all India level. About 3,071,174 persons had been migrated from the state in 2001 (67% women and 33 % men) with 55% being non-workers. Out of these migrants 14% were migrated in search of gainful employment. Census 2011 reveals that hilly districts like Pauri Garhwal and Almora show negative population growth rates, even though the population of the State increased during the decade.

The state is also facing severe problem of unequally divided population. Dehradun is the highly populated city of the state with a population of 778593 while Devprayag with a population of 2144 is the lowest populated city of the state. The inequality is so severe that Haridwar and Dehradun together account for 32% of the state’s population whereas the Champavat accounts only for 2.65%. The state is also encountering a problem of rural poverty. Nearly 44% of the rural population of the state (about 620737 rural families) is living below the poverty line, which is very high as compared to the national average.

Even having these problems the state is having high literacy rate, especially among females which is creditworthy. Besides this, hilly regions of the state have tremendous potential with a good amount of natural resources which add to the state’s attractiveness as an investment destination. The state also has huge water and power resources; Tehri dam project is appreciable in this direction. The state also offers various types of tour; temple tour, pilgrimage tour, mountain tour, nature tour, wildlife tour, adventure tour, sports tour etc. The state has famous pilgrimage centers of Gangotri, Yamunotri, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Kedarnath, Badrinath, Devprayag, Nandadevi and Poornagiri and famous hill-stations of Nainital, Mussoorie, Almora, Ranikhet, Dehradun, Haldwani, Mukteshwar, Chamba, Kausani, Gun Hill, Camel's Back Road, Lal Tibba, Jharipani Fall, Mussoorie Lake, Jwalaji Temple, Lansdowne etc. Two of India's mightiest rivers, the Ganges and the Yamuna take birth in the glaciers of the state. Jim Corbett National Park; Valley of Flowers National Park and Nanda Devi National Park; Rajaji National Park, Govind Wildlife Sanctuary, Gangotri National Park and Kedarnath Sanctuary in the state are preserving the gift of wildlife. The government hopes to overcome the economic backwardness of the state by rapid development and proper exploitation of its vast resources.

Conducive government policies and favourable climate conditions adds to the attraction for industrial investments in the state. Proximity of the state to national capital is also an added advantage. In this way the state has developed itself as an industrial hub of north India in a short span of twelve years and still having potential to grow at even better pace, going forward. The overall economic, social and institutional environment of the state has been improved, giving rural, marginalised and deprived groups an opportunity to participate in the economy. Selected value-chains receive support; the framework for MSMEs' market access and development has improved; and Uttarakhand is being promoted as a regional market. Its future success lies in unlocking the potential of its natural resources. The potential for growth can be strengthened further by exploiting the state's educational institutions as well as national-level centres of excellence for innovation in the local and regional economy.