Economy of Meghalaya

Meghalaya is quite rich in natural resources like coal, uranium and is the only state with surplus power generation. It is also known for the tourism potential. Agriculture is the main stay of the people of Meghalaya and playing a predominant role in the state’s economy. Its climate is not only ideal for the development of tourist and health resorts but also for the growth of a large number of horticultural crops like fruits, spices and mushroom. Apart from such potential for agro based industries the state also posses rich deposits of limestone, coal and granite. Most of these natural resources are extracted and sent outside the state only in raw form. There are little value addition activities in the state. CMIE index for infrastructure development for Meghalaya is 65 (in 1992-93), the reference point being 100 which is the national average.

In 1999-2000, the contribution of the Tertiary sector to the State Domestic Product (SDP) is the highest, comprised of more than half of the state's SDP (56.54%). Over the years it is observed that there is little fluctuation in the sectoral contributions.

The annual compound growth rate of NSDP during last seven years (from 1993-94 to 1999-2000) has been worked out at 11.55% at current prices and 5.35% at constant (1993-94) prices. So far as the sector wise contribution is concerned, it has been observed that during the same period, agriculture exhibited an annual compound growth rate of 10.46% at current prices and 4.18% at constant prices. Similarly the manufacturing sector showed an annual growth rate of 5.43% at current prices and it shows a negative growth rate of 1.65% at constant prices over the same period.

In case of per capita income, Meghalaya continues to leg behind from the national average. In fact, in the recent few years the gap between the per capita income of Megalaya and India has widen further.