Gujarat: Economy

What the official syllabus says

GPSC Preliminary Examination, General Studies, under the heading Economy of India and Gujarat:

• Economy of Gujarat: Social sector in Gujarat; Education, Health, and Nutrition. Gujarat's economy in recent decades, major problems of agriculture in relation to India and major states, forests, water resources, mining, industry and service sector. Policies for the development of economic and social infrastructure, etc.

Topics in detail

This is the state-specific line of the economy area. Learn Gujarat's figures in comparison with India and with other major states, and keep the current numbers from the latest Socio-Economic Review.

Gujarat's economy in recent decades

• Structure of the state economy: shares of agriculture, industry and services in the state's GSDP
• Growth of manufacturing: chemicals and petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, textiles, engineering, gems and jewellery
• Industrial clusters: Ahmedabad (textiles, pharmaceuticals), Vadodara (petrochemicals, engineering), Surat (diamonds, synthetic textiles), Rajkot (engineering), Morbi (ceramics and tiles), Jamnagar (brass parts, refining), Ankleshwar, Vapi and Dahej (chemicals)
• State institutions for industry: GIDC (industrial estates), GIIC, Industrial Extension Bureau; Vibrant Gujarat summits; state industrial policies
• Special investment regions and corridors: Dholera SIR, Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, GIFT City (international financial services centre)
• The source to study: the Gujarat Socio-Economic Review published with the state budget

Agriculture and its problems

• Major crops: cotton, groundnut, castor, cumin, fennel, isabgol, tobacco (Charotar), bajra, wheat, rice and sugarcane in south Gujarat
• Horticulture: Kesar mango (Gir, Junagadh), Alphonso (Valsad), banana, chikoo, dates (Kachchh); vegetables and spices
• Problems in relation to India and major states: dependence on erratic rainfall, recurring droughts, salinity ingress along the Saurashtra and Kachchh coast, falling groundwater in north Gujarat, fluoride in groundwater, small holdings
• Responses: check dams and farm ponds, drip and sprinkler irrigation (Gujarat Green Revolution Company), separate feeders for farm power (Jyotigram Yojana), Krishi Mahotsav, soil health cards
• Animal husbandry and dairy: cooperative dairy model (Amul at Anand, GCMMF, NDDB); breeds such as Gir and Kankrej cattle, Jaffarabadi, Mehsani and Banni buffaloes
• Fisheries: Veraval, Porbandar, Mangrol, Okha; marine fish landings
• Cooperative sector: milk, sugar (south Gujarat), credit and marketing cooperatives

Forests

• Low forest cover relative to area; forests concentrated in the Dangs, south and east Gujarat and Gir
• Mangroves of the Gulf of Kachchh and Gulf of Khambhat: among the largest in India
• Social forestry, grassland (vidi) management, Banni grasslands, forest produce and tribal livelihoods

Water resources

• Rivers and the scarcity of surface water in Saurashtra, Kachchh and north Gujarat
• Sardar Sarovar (Narmada) Project: dam at Kevadia, Narmada main canal, benefits to Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra
• Ukai and Kadana dams; Saurashtra Narmada Avtaran Irrigation (SAUNI) Yojana; Sujalam Sufalam canal
• State-wide drinking water grid, Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board; water user associations

Mining

• Lignite (Kachchh, Bharuch, Bhavnagar); crude oil and natural gas (Ankleshwar, Kalol, Mehsana, Cambay basin)
• Limestone and cement; bauxite (Kachchh, Devbhumi Dwarka); fluorite (Kadipani, Chhota Udepur); china clay; silica sand
• Salt: Gujarat produces most of India's salt; the Agariyas of the Little Rann
• Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation (GMDC); environmental issues of mining

Industry and service sector

• Petroleum refining at Jamnagar, Vadinar and Koyali; petrochemical complexes at Vadodara, Dahej and Hazira
• Ports and logistics: Deendayal Port (Kandla) as the major port; Gujarat Maritime Board ports such as Mundra, Pipavav, Hazira, Dahej; Alang ship-breaking yard
• Service sector: finance (GIFT City), trade, logistics, tourism, IT; share of services in GSDP
• MSMEs and their clusters; state public sector undertakings (GSFC, GNFC, GACL, GSPC, GUVNL)

Social sector: education, health and nutrition

• Education: literacy (78.0 per cent in Census 2011), enrolment drives (Shala Praveshotsav, Kanya Kelavani), Gunotsav for school quality, higher education institutions
• Health: public health network (sub-centres, PHCs, CHCs), maternal and child health indicators (IMR, MMR), Chiranjeevi Yojana, Mukhyamantri Amrutam (MA) Yojana, now with Ayushman Bharat
• Nutrition: anaemia and malnutrition among children and women, ICDS and anganwadis, mid-day meals
• Regional and social gaps: tribal districts, urban slums

Policies for economic and social infrastructure

• Power: high generation capacity, solar parks (Charanka), wind energy in Kachchh and Saurashtra, round-the-clock rural power
• Roads, rail freight corridors, airports, gas grid (Gujarat State Petronet), city gas distribution
• Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board and the Gujarat Infrastructure Development Act, 1999 (public-private partnership)
• Urban infrastructure: metro rail, bus rapid transit (Ahmedabad Janmarg), Sabarmati Riverfront
• Social infrastructure: schools, hospitals, housing, drinking water

Overlaps

Mains General Studies-III (D) asks for agriculture and food processing and names the cooperative sector in Gujarat, and (C) for the resources and industries of Gujarat. Physical resources are also on Gujarat: Geography.