Manufacturing in Tamil Nadu surpasses pre-COVID-19 level, says official data

The manufacturing segment’s activity was valued at around ₹29,304 crore for the previous financial year amid the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic whereas it was ₹26,797 crore during 2019-20

The level of activity in manufacturing, which accounts for nearly 20% of the Gross State Domestic Product of Tamil Nadu, has not only gone back to the pre-COVID-19 pandemic level but also exceeded it, if one were to go by the latest official data on the performance of the State’s economy during 2021-22 .

The manufacturing segment’s activity was valued at around ₹29,304 crore for the previous financial year amid the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic whereas it was ₹26,797 crore during 2019-20. In the first pandemic year (2020-21), the figure was ₹26,531..6 crore, according to the official data available with the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation regarding the gross State value added (GSVA) at constant prices (2011-12). The segment recorded a 10.45% growth rate in the previous financial year over 2020-21

Apart from manufacturing, the revival of fortunes in components such as of construction, real estate, trade and repair services, and financial services paved the way for the State to clock the economic growth rate of 7.99% in 2021-22.. Naturally, the performance of these  components in the previous year was better than that of 2019-20, the pre-pandemic year. To give a few illustrations, the figures for construction and real estate were about ₹ 13,852 crore and the ₹ 19,304 crore for the previous year. In 2019-20, they were approximately ₹ 12,897 crore and ₹17,895 crore respectively.

Among the  sub-sectors where the showing was poorer than the pre-pandemic period were air transport, hotels and restaurants, railways and electricity. The figures for hotels and restaurants and  air transport for 2021-22 were around ₹1,452 crore and ₹72.5 crore against ₹1,638 crore and ₹ 130.6 crore (for 2019-20) respectively.

Last year, it was the  industrial sector which led the State’s growth with 9.17% followed by services—6.83% and agriculture and allied activities—4.18%. The overall growth rate figure was 7.99%.  The figures for 2020-21 and 2019-20 were 0.14% and 3.25%.  

Comparing the State’s performance with all-India performance for 2021-22 when the country was estimated to have grown at 8.7%, an economist explains that the all-India performance was better than Tamil Nadu’s last year because of the lower base in 2020-21, during which  the country had grown at a rate of minus 6.6%. Moreover, when several States had shown negative growth rates, Tamil Nadu had managed to have its rate on the positive side, the economist points out.