Economy of South India

Economic and demographic indicators[1]
Parameter	South India	National
Per capita net state domestic product (SDP)	25027.75 (US$400)	23222 (US$370)
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]

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. 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. Four of the country's top seven exporters of software viz. Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Coimbatore are located in South 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, Nissan, Renault, Royal Enfield, Hindustan Motors, Daimler, Gamesa, Schneider Electric, Avanti and Saint Gobain are some of the international players in Chennai. Chennai ranks first in producing heavy vehicles. Hosur also has some of the vehicle manufacturing units and bio technology firms.

Coimbatore (also known as "Cotton City" and "Manchester of South India") in Tamil Nadu is the source of nearly 35% of India's cotton production. Erode and Tirupur are the largest producers of cotton vests and textiles in India; it exports much of its production to South East Asian and European countries. Erode is also known as the "Turmeric City", since it has the Asia's largest market for Turmeric. Gobichettipalayam is one of the largest producers of White silk with the country's first automatic silk reeling unit established here. Namakkal is one of the largest producers of poultry in the country.

Currently Guntur district port NizamPatnam is being built up to implement this plan; the Czech company Skoda is investing Rs 100 billion in the project.^[3]

Kerala is ranked as the best in Human Development Index and life standard of the people. The high standard of living of Kerala on a lower income level compared to western countries is known as "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.

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh GSDP is one of the best in India. Agriculture has been the chief source of income for the state's economy.Andhra Pradesh is known as Rice Bowl of India and also the Egg Bowl of Asia. Two important rivers of India, the Godavari and Krishna, flow through the state. Rice, tobacco, cotton, chilli pepper, and sugarcane are the local crops. The state has also started to focus on the fields of information technology and biotechnology.

Cities such as Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada have shown growth in IT exports on an annual basis. Visakhapatnam's contribution was Rs 900,000,000, while it was Rs 240,000,000 from Vijayawada.

AP is one of the largest producers of rice (considered the 'Rice bowl of India'), Chilly, turmeric in India.^[4]

The government has initiated the Rajiv-Internet Village. Its 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 within June 2007.^[5]

Karnataka

Karnataka's net state domestic product is of $47 billion. 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 Rs.370 billion ($8.2 billion). Nearly 35% of IT companies and 40% of bio-technology 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 neighbouring 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 Mangalore, Mysore 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).

Hubli-Dharwad is the second largest city in Karnataka. It is the most important city in terms of business and commerce in Karnataka after Bangalore. It is the nerve center for North Karnataka region. It is the Headquarters of South Western Railway, and the Hubli Division of SWR is one of the highest revenue generating railway divisions in India. The High Court Of Karnataka is situated at Belur in Hubli-Dharwad, it also has the largest number of government offices outside Bangalore and hence called the second capital of Karnataka. The Agriculture Produce market at Amargol in Hubli is one of the largest markets in Asia and the cotton market is among the largest cotton markets in India. The city has earned the nick name of "Shikshana Kashi" due to the large number of educational Institutions. The city is home to over 4 Universities and 2 deemed Universities, and also has an exhaustive list of over 200 colleges. The University of Agricultural Sciences and the Karnataka Universities are internationally acclaimed Universities for the quality of research and teaching. The city is a major industrial center, the railway workshop setup in 1880 is one of the oldest workshops in India and is also the largest holder of EMD locomotives of Indian Railway, the city is home to Tata Motors, Marcopolo, Hitachi Construction Equipments, Telcon, Sankalp Semiconductors etc. Infosys is about to start its operations from Hubli with a campus of over 50 acres.

Mangalore is the third biggest business center. One of the largest SEZ's in India, the ONGC MSEZ is in Mangalore. But still, the population is very much controlled in Mangalore (It is the 5th most populated city in the state). The way in which the city is growing can be gauged by the fact that over 400 luxury cars were sold in Mangalore in 2014 alone. The total investment in the ONGC MSEZ is expected to cross INR 15,000 Cr . At least three IT SEZ'S are coming up in Mangalore with companies like TCS, Wipro, Lotus and others investing up to more than 30 billion INR and creating 67,000 jobs in Mangalore over the next three years. MRPL(Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited), the only refinery in the state, which will soon get a Navaratna Status is in Mangalore. MCF(Mangalore Chemicals & Fertilizers), the only fertilizer factory in the state, is also situated in Mangalore. Mangalore is one among the only 5 cities in the country to have both a Major Port and an International Airport. Mangalore is also attracting investment in the Hospitality sectors with companies like the Maurya and Leela Group investing in the region.

Mysore is the third largest and most important city in Karnataka after Bangalore, Hubli and Mangalore. Being tagged as 'the Heritage City', tourism is a major economic driver and while it is among the top tourist attractions in India, it is said to rank next only to Madame Tussauds in London in the list of most-visited tourist attractions receiving more than 3 million tourists per year.^[6] On the IT front, Infosys has developed the world's largest corporate training centre in the city.^[7] Mysore is the second largest exporter of IT in the state^[6] and it houses nearly 60 major and minor IT players registered with the Software Technology Park of India [STPI], Mysore^[7] and this includes Infosys, WIPRO Technologies, IBM software, Paradigms India, WIFI Net, Logrosoft, Excel soft and L & T Infotech, Theorem etc.^[8] Mysore figured high in the vibrancy index survey of Morgan Stanley India last year.^[7][9] Mysore & Bangalore account for more than 60% of the incense stick manufacture & export.^[10]

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.

Kerala

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 all 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, but the per capita GDP is higher than the national average. Remittances from Keralites working abroad, mainly in the Middle East, makes up a large share in Kerala'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 at Kochi), along with skilled labour. The government has established two IT Parks in the state are Technopark in Trivandrum and Infopark in Kochi. The Technopark at Trivandrum is the third largest IT park in Asia, and the largest in India.^[11] In addition to Inforpark in Kochi, an IT park named as Smartcity by Dubai Internet City is under construction. Kochi is a safe natural harbour, and hence one of the most important ports of India. A new International Container Transshipment Terminal is commissioned at Vallarpadam, which is expected to be a major transshipment port in India.^{[12][13][14][15]} In addition, 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.

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.

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 fibre 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 major 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 headquarters 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 private participation, without the Central 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.^[16]

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu's net state domestic product is the second largest in India.Tamil Nadu is the second largest state economy after Maharashtra. It is second most industrialized state in India next to Maharashtra. It ranks second in per capita income (2004–2005) among large states. It ranks third in foreign direct investment (FDI) approvals (cumulative 1991–2002) of Rs.225,826 million ($5,000 million), next only to Maharashtra (Rs.366,024 million ($8,100 million)) and Delhi (Rs.303,038 million ($6,700 million). The State's investment constitutes 9.12% of the total FDI in the country.^[17] According to the 2001 Census, Tamil Nadu has the highest level of urbanisation (43.86%) in India, which accounts for 6% of India's total population and 9.6% of the urban population. It has 12 corporations, namely Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore, Trichy, Salem, Tirunelveli, Erode, Tirupur, Vellore, Thoothukudi, Thanjavur and Dindigul.

Tamil Nadu has most number of engineering Institutions in India. Chennai is referred as the Gateway of South India. Chennai is the second leading Software exporter in India. Companies such as Cognizant, Covansys, Xansa, Verizon, iSoft, Ascendas, Invensys, Schneider Electric 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 12.50 billion (Rs 12.5 billion) in Chennai.^[18] Coimbatore is growing as a preferred IT destination in India. It already ranks among the top 7 IT exporters in the country. Unlike other States in India the state has many software tier II cities such as Madurai, Salem, Trichy and Tirunelveli. 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", 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.^[19][20] Also, the Government is promoting other industrial parks like Rubber Park, Apparel Parks, Floriculture Park, TICEL Park for Biotechnology,^[21] Siruseri IT Park, Agro Export Zones among others.

The heavy engineering manufacturing companies are centred around the suburbs of Chennai. Chennai boasts presence of global car manufacturing giants like Ford, Daimler, Hyundai, BMW, Mitsubishi, Komatsu, Yamaha, Nissan and Renault as well as home grown companies like MRF, JK Tyre, 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 Kalpakkam Mini Reactor(Kamini) is the only U-233fueled operating reactor in the world.

Coimbatore, also known as the "Manchester of South India", is one of the fast developing cities in India and the second largest city in Tamil Nadu. It is the largest city in the Kongu region, which contributes to more than 50% of the state's GDP. Now, most of the Indian Software companies have started their development centres in Coimbatore and it is already among the leading exporters in the field. Coimbatore is also known for its textile factories, engineering firms, automobile parts manufacturers, health care facilities, educational institutions, wet grinders and water pumps. 76% of India's total textile market is from Erode ("Loom City") and Tirupur ("Textile City"). It exports much of its production to South East Asian and European countries. Erode is also known as the "Turmeric City", since it has the Asia's largest market for Turmeric. Gobichettipalayam is one of the largest producers of White silk with the country's first automatic silk reeling unit established here. Namakkal is one of the largest producers of poultry in the country.

Sivakasi is the leader in 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.

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

Biovalleys in Tamil Nadu include Biotechnology Incubator Park Near Chennai, Women's Biotechnology Park Kelambakkam,^[22] Medicinal Plants Biotechnology Park, Madurai,^[23] Marine Biotechnology Park, Madapam and Bioinformatics and Genomics Centre (BGC), Chennai^[19]

Telangana

Telangana state has two important rivers of India, the Godavari and Krishna, flow through the state where agriculture is one of the main source of economy. Rice, tobacco, cotton, chilli pepper, 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. It is due to the Governments Unique FDI Policies and the City Infrastructure.^[24]

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.. Hyderabad's IT export revenue was Rs.81,450,000,000, an increase of 62% from fiscal year 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.

Several Indian research institutes and companies are located in Hyderabad such as: 'NIN – National institute of Nutrition', 'NGRI-National Geographical Research Institute', CCMB- Cente for Cellular & Molecular Biology, NRSA, ICRISAT, BHEL, BDL, DRDL, DRDO, ECIL, NGRS, NHI, TIFR, IICT.

See also

• Economy of Tamil Nadu
• Economy of Andhra Pradesh
• Economy of Kerala
• Economy of Karnataka

References

External links

• Salem Development Works-Discussion Forum