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As the name suggests, Madhya Pradesh lies at the centre of the country and is sometimes referred to as the “Heart of India”. Being at the centre of the land, it does not have any coastal or international boundary. That’s why economic facts about Madhya Pradesh do not include much coastal trade or inter boundary trade.
However, MP has some significant hill ranges distributed throughout the states. These include the Vindhya ranges in the west and Kaimur hills (one of the branches of Satpura) in the North. Madhya Pradesh’s economy is not only driven by agriculture. The natural resources and manufacturing sector have an essential role in MP’s growth and development. The MP economy thus becomes an interesting topic to analyse and study.
Agriculture
Although the agricultural dependence of MP is mainly on rainfall, some areas have grown with the help of mechanised cultivation. Narmada valley is one of the most fertile regions of Madhya Pradesh. Durum wheat that is grown here is exported all over the world.
Madhya Pradesh is the largest producer of soybeans. It is also a significant producer of different varieties of rice. The government of India gave Chinnar rice brand a GI tag on September 29, 2021.
Natural Resources
Madhya Pradesh is rich in natural resources, and they contribute to a large part of Madhya Pradesh’s GDP. It is one of the leaders in mining stones and has the highest number of copper stone reserves in India.
Madhya Pradesh also has one of the most extensive coal stocks (the coal production of Madhya Pradesh was 132.531 million tonnes in 2021).
MP is a major diamond-producing state in the country, and it is one of the major contributors to the MP revenue. Diamond production in 2019-20 had reached 25,603 thousand tonnes. Despite being rich in natural and mineral resources, the revenue of MP doesn’t justify the availability of resources.
Tourism
Madhya Pradesh is home to spectacular historical places like Ujjain (a sacred city of Hindus), Khajuraho, etc. These cities attract lakhs of tourists from all over the world annually.
This state also has a wide variety of flora and fauna across different Natural parks and wildlife sanctuaries that are distributed throughout the state. Some of these include Orchha, Pench, Pachmarhi, Kanha and Bandhavgarh. Madhya Pradesh has a total of 25 wildlife sanctuaries and 6 tiger reserves. The state is home to the highest number of tigers (526 in 2019), and the world’s first white tiger was found in Rewa, a district in Madhya Pradesh.
The share of GDP from travel and tourism was 10.4% in 2019, which came down to 5.5% in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Manufacturing Sector
Madhya Pradesh, being a natural producer of a variety of raw materials, is a great manufacturing hub. It has emerged as a stalwart in automobile manufacturing due to its large area, which is required for setting up the agencies. Indore and Bhopal have become alternate industrial investment destinations for bigger cities like Noida and Gurgaon.
The state is a leader in textile manufacturing, automobiles, food processing, engineering, and agriculture equipment manufacturing. Due to the advantages of workforce availability, Madhya Pradesh has been paving the way to becoming a developed and self-sufficient state.
The districts of MP have been divided into 7 AKVNs (Audyogik Kendra Vikas Nigam) in Bhopal, Indore, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Ujjain, Sagar, and Rewa. According to the Annual Survey of India (ASI) 2015-16, Madhya Pradesh has over 4426 factories. Madhya Pradesh also has India’s first greenfield SEZ in Pithampur, which has a total area of 1114 hectares. Slowly but steadily, the manufacturing sector has become a significant contributor to the MP economy.
Employment opportunities in Madhya Pradesh
Despite staggering economic opportunities throughout the state, the unemployment rate in Madhya Pradesh rose above 10% in 2021. Even though the state has done well in providing jobs for semi-skilled and unskilled people, there is still a long way to go before employment opportunities improve throughout the state. The COVID pandemic has somewhat influenced the high unemployment rate, but that cannot be used as an excuse for long. The unemployment rates in MP are a matter of grave concern and must be addressed as soon as possible.
Conclusion
Madhya Pradesh has a vivid mixture of culture, natural resources, and human resources. It stands at 27th rank in GDP per capita income, but MP is growing at a rate of 10%. The debt, however, is a serious issue for the state as far as money management is concerned. The state is full of resources and can reach the apex of its growth, provided the resources are utilised properly.
