Andhra Pradesh - Economy

Economy

Andhra Pradesh's GDP for 2011 was approximately 5,67,636 crore, placing it third among the states. The state ranks second in terms of overall Gross State Product among all the states of the Indian Union. In terms of per capita GSDP the state compares very favorably with other large states. In the 2010 list by Forbes Magazine, there are seven from Andhra Pradesh among the top 100 richest Indians.

Agriculture has been the chief source of income for the state's economy. Andhra Pradesh is an exporter of many agricultural products. Four important rivers of India, the Godavari, Krishna, Penna, and Thungabhadra flow through the state, providing irrigation. Rice, sugarcane, cotton, Chili pepper, mango, and tobacco are the local crops. Recently, crops used for vegetable oil production such as sunflower and peanuts have gained favour. There are many multi-state irrigation projects in development, including Godavari River Basin Irrigation Projects and Nagarjuna Sagar Dam.

The service sector of the state accounts for 43% of the gross state domestic product (GSDP) and employs 20% of the work force. Andhra Pradesh economy has registered over 5.5% annual economic growth rate during the last two decades. The state is ranked fifth industrially developed states in India.

Andhra Pradesh ranks second in India in terms of mineral wealth. The state has about one third of India's limestone reserves, estimated at about 30 billion tonnes. The Tumalappalli Uranium mine in Andhra has confirmed 49,000 tonnes of ore and there are indications that it could hold reserves totalling three times its current size, The Times of India quoted Srikumar Banerjee as saying. The mine's proven reserve is enough to support a 8,000 mega watts nuclear power plant for 40 years, the report added. The Krishna Godavari Basin has huge reserves of natural gas and petroleum. The state has a large amount of coal reserves. The state ranks first nationwide in hydro electricity generation, with a national market share of over 11%. Andhra Pradesh has the fourth largest power generating utility in the country, with an installed capacity of around 10,650 MW. The two cheapest sources of thermal power generation – coal and natural gas – are in abundance.

In 2004–2005, Andhra Pradesh was at the second position in the list of top information technology exporting states of India. The IT sector is expanding at a rate of 52.3% every year. The IT exports reached 19,000 crores in 2006–2007, contributed to 14 per cent of total IT exports of the nation and ranked fourth in India. Other key sectors include, Biopharmaceuticals, Power, Automobile, Tourism, Textiles, Retail, Leather, Mining and Religious tourism.