On right track: The data on per capita Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) at current prices show that Tamil Nadu ranked third among major States, with an estimated per capita income of ₹3,61,619.
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After a gap of 14 years, Tamil Nadu has recorded a double-digit economic growth rate in real terms during 2024-25 with 11.19%, according to the revised estimates of the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation for various States.
In 2010-11, the State registered 13.12%. Coincidentally, on both occasions, the DMK was in power. The latest revised estimates were prepared as on August 1, 2025. Fifteen years ago, the base year was 2004-05, whereas it is 2011-12 now. Former Director of the Madras School of Economics, K.R. Shanmugam, attributes the growth to the strong performance by the tertiary and secondary sectors.
About five months ago, when the State-wise advance estimates were made public, Tamil Nadu’s real economic growth was 9.69%. The latest figure marks an increase of about 1.5 percentage points. Apart from having finished the topper, Tamil Nadu has accomplished what no other State has done — recording the double-digit growth. It may be noted that the data for six States — Goa, Gujarat, and four northeastern States — have not been made public yet, apart from those for two Union Territories.
In fact, the figures exceeded the forecast made in the Tamil Nadu Budget presented early this year. The State government was modest in projecting Tamil Nadu’s nominal Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) to grow at 14.5% in 2024-25, with real growth put at 9% and an average inflation of 5%. But the real growth is higher by nearly 2.2%. At constant prices (base year: 2011-12), Tamil Nadu’s GSDP is estimated at ₹17,32,189 crore for 2024-25, up from ₹15,57,821 crore in 2023-24.
The revised figures also indicated stronger performance for 2023-24, with the real GSDP growth revised upward from 8.23% to 9.26%. However, the growth estimated for 2022-23 had been reduced from 8.13% to 6.17%.
Going by the data on per capita Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) at current prices, Tamil Nadu ranked third among major States in 2024-25, with an estimated per capita income of ₹3,61,619, following Telangana (₹3,87,623) and Karnataka (₹3,80,906).
Commenting on Tamil Nadu’s economic trajectory, Dr. Shanmugam, who is serving the Finance Department as Economic Consultant, hopes that if the State continues to maintain its growth, aided by strong export performance, it is on track to achieve its target of a trillion-dollar economy by 2031-32. The higher growth rate is likely to lead to significant improvement in fiscal indicators, such as lower fiscal and revenue deficit and debt-to-GSDP ratio. If all the major sectors grow by half-a-percent more than what they did in 2024-25, the State economic growth may be around 12% during the current year (2025-26), he points out.
According to the Union Ministry’s data, the growth rate figures of select States for 2024-25 were Uttar Pradesh-8.99%; Andhra Pradesh-8.21%; Telangana-8.08%; Karnataka-7.37%; and Maharashtra-7.27%.
Published – August 05, 2025 07:29 pm IST
