Punjab's agriculture expected to grow by 3.70 per cent: Minister
Darpan News Desk IANS, 10 Apr, 2023 09:58 AM
Chandigarh, April 10 (IANS) Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Cheema on Monday said agriculture and allied sectors in the state are expected to grow by 3.70 per cent, industry by 4.33 per cent and services sector by 6.78 per cent, as per advance estimates of 2022-23.
"As compared to agriculture in general, the allied sectors are showing faster growth over the recent years," he said while quoting 'Punjab State at a Glance 2022', a collection of important statistical data, which was released here.
The livestock sector, he said, with rapid growth is becoming a major contributor to the growth of the agriculture and allied sector.
"The livestock sector is likely to grow by 4.18 per cent in 2022-23," Cheema said, while adding the livestock sector's share in total Gross State Value Added (GSVA) of Punjab was 11.1 per cent during 2022-23.
He said the per capita income of Punjab is expected to be Rs 1,73,873 in 2022-23 as per advance estimates compared to Rs 1,70,620 at the national level. State inflation figures were also remained below than those at the national level with few exceptions.
The inflation was at its peak in April 2022 and showed a downward trend in the next few months with the exception in June 2022. "It remained benign till October when it touched the bottom with 4.5 per cent but it started an upward trend in November and December 2022."
Cheema said Punjab has a large chunk of working population in the age of 15-64 years, which stood at 70.15 per cent of the total population in 2021. "A total of 26.11 per cent of them belong to the age of 15-29 years. It is both an advantage as well as a challenge for the state," said the Finance Minister, while adding the government has taken initiatives to provide good education and better job opportunities to channelise the youth energy under the mission 'Rangla Punjab'.
Thanking the Finance Minister for releasing the book, Vikas Pratap, Principal Secretary Planning, said the source agencies of the sectoral data contained in this book has been indicated under each table.
The single volume handy book carries data on all important items relating to different sectors of Punjab economy, besides reflecting the latest available data on important socio-economic indicators of Punjab's economy.
The Chief Minister, who reviewed the arrangements for the mega event here, said Punjab is fully ready to host the sessions and asked the officers to ensure foolproof arrangements for the working sessions slated to take place at the holy city of Amritsar next week.
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The arrested persons have been identified as Zahir Hossain Mollah and Giasuddin Mondal. Both are residents of North 24 Parganas district. During questioning, they admitted that they crossed the border to Bangladesh to get the gold biscuits from one Karim Mondal -- a resident of Jessore district there.
The Chief Minister, who called on Shah at his office here, apprised him about the use of drones for supply of drugs and weapons from Pakistan. Expressing concern, he said this needs to be checked with heavy hand with the support of the Union government. Mann sought intervention of the Home Minister to combat this challenge effectively.
