Economy of South India

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Economic and demographic indicators ^[1]
Parameter	South India	National
Per capita net state domestic product (SDP)	Rs. 25,027.75 (US$ 637.51)	Rs. 23,222 (US$ 591.51)
Percentage share in total FDI approved (1993-2003)	5.48	NA
Average annual growth of SDP	5.6	5.6
Percentage of population below poverty line	17.41	26.10
Percentage of urban population	32.82	27.81
Percentage of households with electricity	89.32	67.9
Literacy rate	72.87	61 ^[2]

Paddy fields in South India.

The Economy of South India is largely agrarian, dependent on monsoons, as are most people in India. Some of the main crops cultivated in South India include rice, sorghum, and ragi. South India was and still is the "promised land" as far as spice cultivation is concerned. Areca, coffee, pepper, tapioca, and cardamom are widely cultivated on the Nilgiri Hills and Kodagu. But frequent droughts in Northern Karnataka, Rayalaseema and Telangana regions are leaving farmers debt-ridden, forcing them to sell their livestock and sometimes even to suicides. Scarcity of water has been a major problem for past few years in these regions along with cities like Hyderabad.

Education is highly valued in the south Indian community, and is seen as a gateway to a better livelihood. Many of the nation's most prominent physicists and mathematicians have been South Indians^{[citation needed]} Kerala, while possessing a literacy rate above 98% also has the highest unemployment rates in India. The population growth rate of these states is also beginning to decline.

Information Technology is a growing field in South India. Bangalore is India's Information Technology hub, and is home to over 200 software companies. It is often referred to as the Silicon Valley of India.

Chennai houses the automobile manufacturing giants in the country. More than 65% of heavy vehicles produced in the country, such as cars, buses, lorries, trains and bicycles, are produced in Chennai, and it is referred to as the Detroit of Asia. The manufacturing units of BMW, Flextronics, Motorola,Dell,TVS,Mitsubishi,Ford, Hyundai, Nokia and Saint Gobain are some of the international players in Chennai.Chennai ranks first in producing heavy vehicles.

Madurai region is the Cotton souce for nearly 35%production in India.It is in Tamil Nadu.Tirupur is the largest producer of cotton vests in India.It exports much of its production to South east Asian countries.There is likely to be a Textile SEZ in Tirupur

Guntur is the Cotton source for nearly 30% production in India. Andhra Pradesh Government is planning to establish Cotton Mills around Guntur to Make the city Cotton city surpassing the Current Cotton City Coimbatore. Currently Guntur district Port/NizamPatnam is built up to make the plan implemented. Czek Repablic is Investing 10,000 crores for this Project [1].

Kerala lags behind many of the Indian states in terms of production and per capita income, but in terms of Human Development Index and life standard of the people, Kerala is ahead of most other states in India. This peculiar paradox is often termed as the "Kerala Phenomenon" or Kerala model of development by experts.

There is also a large amount of disparity within Southern India. As IT companies have entered the economic arena, their high level of pay has raised the economic standing of young and educated professionals, while the poor has become less and less able to afford basic necessities. It is not uncommon to see the shacks of homeless people propped up against the buildings of large multinationals. The poor, unable to afford sending their children to school, remain in a cycle of life completely separated from that of this more affluent upper class.

1 Andhra Pradesh
2 Karnataka
3 Kerala
4 Tamil Nadu
5 See also
6 External links
7 References

[edit] Andhra Pradesh

Information Technology industry in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh

Agriculture has been the chief source of income for the state's economy. Two important rivers of India, the Godavari and Krishna, flow through the state. Rice, tobacco, cotton, mirchi, and sugarcane are the local crops. The state has also started to focus on the fields of information technology and biotechnology.

Hyderabad, the capital of Andhra Pradesh, is the sixth largest cosmopolitan city in India, rich in culture, enduring history and industrial growth.

Hyderabad beat IT heavyweight Bangalore to bag the Fab City project, which will host India’s first major silicon chip manufacturing facility. Its Due to the Governments Unique FDI Policies and the City Infrastructure. ^[3]

The advent of Information Technology growth in India, the so called "Blue Chip Revolution", has fostered the growth of Hyderabad's economy. The city is sometimes referred to as "Cyberabad" because of the large number of IT firms in the city. Andhra Pradesh has witnessed a major jump in software exports. Hyderabad's IT export revenue was Rs. 81,450,000,000, an increaes of 62% from fiscal 2004. For Andhra, fiscal 2004 is particularly significant as the 62% growth in exports in fiscal 2005, was almost double the 37% it grew in 2003-2004. Other cities such as Vizag and Vijayawada have shown growths in IT exports on an annual basis. Vizag's contribution was Rs 700,000,000, while it was Rs 240,000,000 from Vijayawada.

State Owned APSRTC Bus Service -entered Guinness World Record for owning the largest fleet of buses IN 1999.^[4]

AP is the largest producer of rice in India.^[5]

RajIV- (Internet Village) Initiative by AP Government. Government’s plan is to establish Broadband Network across the State by connecting Districts with 10 GB/s and Up to Mandals with 1 GB/s and up to Villages with 100 MB/s Bandwidth with in Jun 2007.^[6]

Infosys signs MoU Andhra for expansion in Hyderabad Plans to ramp up headcount to 25,000 with an added investment of Rs. 1250 crore ^[7]

[edit] Karnataka

Main articles: Economy of Karnataka, Software industry in Karnataka, and Banking in Karnataka

Information Technology industry in Bangalore, Karnataka

Karnataka's net state domestic product of $47 billion is the fifth largest in India. Between 1992-2002, Karnataka attracted the fourth highest total Foreign Direct Investment approvals in India, to the tune of Rs. 21,566 million. Karnataka accounts for one third of India's Information technology exports. For the year 2006, the state is expected to bring in 37% of all IT revenues amounting to 37,000 crores ($8.2 billion). Nearly 35% of IT companies and 40% of Bio-Tecnology companies are based here. Agriculture in Karnataka, like most of India, employs 80% of the population. Agriculture and its allied activities account for 49% of the state's income. The coastal plains of Karnataka, which include Uttara Kanara and Dakshina Kanara are cultivated with rice and sugarcane. Coffee and Tea are also grown on the slopes of the Western Ghats in the district of Kodagu Chikmagalur and Hassan. Karnataka produces 70% of India's coffee, of which about 50% is exported. The black soil in the northwest of the state, is hospitable for the growth of cotton, onion, course cereal, sunflower and peanuts.

The forests of the Malnad region produce timber, bamboo and sandalwood. Karnataka is the only exporter of sandalwood in the country. Most of the world's sandalwood oil is produced in Karnataka.

All of India's gold comes from the Kolar district of Karnataka. Karnataka is also rich in minerals which form the bulk of the raw materials for iron and steel industries in the state such as the one at Bhadravati. All of India's Iron ore comes from the Malnad region.

The first power station in Asia was set up in Karnataka at Shivanasamudra in 1902 to produce hydroelectric power. Karnataka has 18 power stations which generate annually 16,513 million units. The state, however generates insufficient power and is forced to buy electricity from neighboring states.

Bangalore, the capital of Karnataka, is home to several public sector undertaking aircraft companies, such as Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), HMT Hindustan Machine Tools , Bharat Heavy Electronics Limited (BHEL), National Aeronautics Limited and also Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Bangalore, often referred to as the Silicon Valley of India has the largest number of international and local Information Technology and business process outsourcing (BPO) companies in the country. A number of "IT Parks" have been set up by the Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (KEONICS) including Bangalore's "Electronics City" and IT parks in Mysore, Mangalore and Hubli. Bangalore is also home to prestigious higher institutes of learning such as the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Indian Institute of Management (IIM Bangalore). One of the largest SEZ's in India, the ONGC SEZ is coming up at Mangalore, which is currently the fastest growing non metro in the south following Coimbatore .The total investment in the ONGC SEZ is expected to cross 100,000 crores. At least three IT SEZ'S are coming up in Mangalore with companies like TCS,Wipro,,Lotus and others investing up to more than 3000 crores and creating 67,000 jobs in Mangalore over the next three years. in 2 or 3 years 11 shopping malls will be seen in Mangalore includin the current 3 malls. Mangalore is also attracting investment in the Hospitality sectors with companies like the Maurya and Leela Group investing in the region. Udupi the temple city is contributing towards the higher education with large number of professional colleges in Manipal. It is also the home of the famous software company Robosoft Technologies.

[edit] Kerala

The interior of a building in the Technopark, at Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum). 70% of the state's IT exports are from Technopark

Kerala's economy is predominantly agrarian. In terms of industrialisation, Kerala lags behind many of the Indian states, but in terms of Human Development Index and life standard of the people, Kerala is ahead of most other states in India. In fact, in certain development indices it is on a par with some of the developed countries. This peculiar paradox is often termed as the "Kerala Phenomenon" or Kerala model of development by experts.

Kerala follows a socialist welfare economy. Kerala's emphasis on social welfare also resulted in slow economic progress. There are few major industries in Kerala, and the per capita GDP is lower than the national average. Remittances from Keralites working abroad, mainly in the Middle East, make up over 60% of the state's gross domestic product.

However, today, the state is emerging as a future IT center of India, owing to its high internet connectivity (undersea cable landing points), along with skilled labour. The government has established two IT Parks in the state at Trivandrum and Kochi. The Technopark at Trivandrum is the sixth largest IT park in Asia, and the third largest in India next to Tidel park, Chennai and IT park in Bangalore.^[8] Kochi is a safe natural harbour, and hence one of the most important ports of India. A container transshipment terminal has been proposed in Kochi. The construction of the proposed mega Deep Water Container Transshipment Port at Vizhinjam near Trivandrum is expected to boost up the economy of the state. Vizhinjam is having a natural depth of 24 m, which requires no annual dredging, thus making it the deepest port in Asia. Situated close to Trivandrum city, Vizhinjam is very close to international shipping route and East-West shipping axis.

Agriculture is still the most predominant economic activity in the state. Coconut, tea and coffee are grown extensively, along with rubber, cashew and spices. Spices commonly cultivated in Kerala include pepper, cardamom, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Much of Kerala's agriculture is in the form of home gardens.

Dusk in Kovalam beach, Trivandrum

Unemployment is typically high in Kerala,though a recent study by centre for development studies in trivandrum have shown unemployment rate down to 9%.Traditional low-wage cottage industries such as the processing of coconut fiber and cashew or weaving employ most workers. More than a fourth of Kerala's workers provide service.

Kerala boasts an Indian Institute of Management at Kozhikode. One of the two ship building yards of India is in Kerala at Kochi. The Southern Naval Command of India has its headquarters in Kochi, and the Southern Air Command Head Quarters is in Thiruvananthapuram(Trivandrum). There are three international airports in Kerala. They are Trivandrum, Cochin and Kozhikode. Cochin International Airport is the first International Airport in India that has been built with public money thus without the Federal Government's stake.

Kerala is also one of the tourist hot-spots of India. It was proclaimed as one of the ten paradises on earth by the National Geographic traveller. The state has also won a large number of awards for its Ecotourism initiatives. Its tourism logo and slogan have global Superbrands status.

[edit] Tamil Nadu

Tidel Park in Chennai hosts a number of IT companies.

Tamil Nadu's net state domestic product is the largest in South India and third largest in India. It is second industrialised state in India next to Maharashtra. It ranks third in the country in total foreign direct investment (FDI) (Rs. 220,582,640,000). The State's investment constitutes 9.12% of the total FDI in the country ^[9]. According to the 2001 Census, Tamil Nadu has the highest level of urbanization (43.86%) in India, which accounts for 6% of India’s total population and 9.6% of the urban population. Chennai is referred as the Gate way of South India. Chennai is the Second leading Software exporter in India. Companies such as Cognizant, Covansys, Xansa, Verizon, iSoft, Ascendas and many others are Chennai based companies in India. Infosys has set up India's largest software development centre to house 25,000 software professionals at an estimated investment of Rs 1,250 crore (Rs 12.5 billion) in Chennai ^[10]. Unlike other States in India the state has many software tier II cities such as *Salem, Coimbatore,Trichy, Madurai and Hosur. Chennai has become the most preferred BPO hub in India and South Asia. Chennai is sometimes referred to as the "Health Capital of India" or the "Banking Capital of India"^{[citation needed]}, having attracted investments from International corporations and the World Bank and it is called as Detroit of Asia.

Tamil Nadu has a network of about 110 industrial parks/estates that offer developed plots with supporting infrastructure^[11] ^[12]. Also, the Government is promoting other industrial parks like Rubber Park, Apparel Parks, Floriculture Park, TICEL Park for Biotechnology ^[13], Siruseri IT Park, Agro Export Zones among others. 56% of India's total knitwear exports come from Tirupur, Tamilnadu.

The heavy engineering manufacturing companies are centered around the suburbs of Chennai. Chennai boasts presence of global car manufacturing giants like Ford, Hyundai, BMW Mitsubishi Komatsu now Nissan, and Renault as well as home grown companies like MRF, TI Cycles of India, Ashok Leyland TVS and Mahindra and Mahindra. Chennai is also home to one of the Indian Institutes of Technology, IIT Madras.The Koyambedu Bus Stand(Asia's largest bus stand) operated by CMDA is the first bus stand in India to get (The Global Positioning System) which will use sensors to track vehicles on the move.

Kalpakkam nuclear power plant, Neyveli Lignite Corporation, and the Narimanam natural gas plants provide sources of fuel and energy for the nation. 55% of electricity from wind power produced in India from wind mills comes from Tamil Nadu. The town of Sivakasi is the leader for Printing, Fireworks, Safety matches Production in India. It contributes to 80% of India's total Safety Matches Production ,90% of India's Total Fireworks Production and 60% of India's Total Offset Printing Solutions and ranks as one of the highest Tax payer towns in India. Sivakasi and Tirupur in Tamil Nadu are 100% employed towns, among a few towns in India.The Kalpakkam Mini Reactor(Kamini) is the only U-233fueled operating reactor in the world.

Tamilnadu is leading producer of kambu, cholam, ground nut, oil seeds and sugarcane in India.

Biovalleys in Tamil Nadu include Biotechnology Incubator Park Near Chennai, ^[13], Marine Biotechnology Park, Madapam and Bioinformatics and Genomics Centre (BGC), Chennai ^[11]