GOA ON THE GO
Blessed with an abundance of natural resources, low density of population and a thriving tourism industry, Goa is on the road to prosperity
It is a state that has everything going for it. Natural riches, highest per capita GDP in the country and an extraordinary record in key HDI measures. For it to remain paradise, though, the state now needs to diversify its growth drivers and reduce the gap between the coastal districts and the hinterland
It may have only 160 km of a coastline compared to Maharashtra’s 720 km and Karnataka’s 320 km, but it is Goa that is called the ‘Pearl of the Orient’. Its 450-year-old Portuguese colonial history gives it a unique cultural ethos, reflected in its liberal, tolerant and progressive attitude and its food. Its azure skies and golden, palm-fringed beaches make it the ultimate holiday destination for the domestic and foreign, hippie and high-end tourist alike. Tourist arrivals in Goa, therefore, have only been increasing every year. In 2018, Goa attracted 7,081,559 domestic tourists, among the highest in all states, with the number of foreign tourists standing at 933,481 in the same year. Besides tourism, the mining and pharma sectors have been the mainstays of the Goan economy. The state’s gross domestic product for 2017-18 is estimated at $9.95 billion (about Rs 70,000 crore) at current prices, much less than Maharashtra’s (over $300 billion) and Karnataka’s (over $200 billion). Yet, Goa scores because it has the highest per capita GDP in the country—two and a half times the national figure. Not just that, Goa’s GSDP at current prices increased at a compound annual growth rate of 10.65 per cent from 2011-12 to 2017-18.
Mining riches to rags
Goa has achieved these distinctions not only on the back of tourism. The land away from the coast is rich in minerals, making mining the second largest industry in the state. In 2017-2018, Goa accounted for 32 per cent of India’s iron ore production. The state is also home to some of the country’s key mining companies, such as Sesa Sterlite Limited, V.M. Salgaocar and Brothers and Fomento Resources. Approximately 150,000 people in Goa came to depend on the mining industry for their livelihood.
Simultaneously, with its rich deposits of iron and manganese ore, bauxite, industrial clay and silica sand, Goa became a major hub for exporting raw materials. Accounting for 55 per cent of the country’s iron ore exports, Goa’s iron ore exports reached 17.6 million tonnes between September 2015 and November 2017. The Mormugao port handled 26.9 million tonnes of cargo in 2017-18; total iron ore traffic was 10.3 million tonnes.
The demand for iron and manganese started rising by 2000 and peaked in the run-up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In the rush to export iron ore to China, often in quantities much beyond the state’s capacity, Goa’s mineral resources were overexploited, causing irreparable damage to the environment.
On March 15, 2018, all mining activity in Goa involving iron ore extraction came to a halt for the second time in nearly two years. This followed the Supreme Court’s order on February 7, 2018, cancelling 88 iron ore mining leases that the government had renewed in 2014-2015, just before the Mines and Minerals (Regulation and Development) Act mandated the auction of leases. The ban on mining has led to devastating losses of approximately Rs 3,500 crore to Rs 4,000 crore per annum in revenue and cost hundreds of thousands of jobs.
With this setback to iron ore mining, the state has been looking to diversify into other areas. The pharmaceutical industry, along with tourism and mining, has traditionally been the third growth driver—drug formulations and biological products had a share of 51 per cent in Goa’s exports in 2017-18.
In an exclusive interview to india today, Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant elaborated on his government’s top priorities: “The number one focus is on creation of job opportunities for the youth, both in the private and government sectors. Eighty per cent of the jobs will have to be provided to locals in any new industrial venture.” The second, he added, was “promoting self-employment for youth via incentives to start-ups for
investment in industry (clean industry), services, agriculture, dairy farming and fisheries.” What are these big incentives to start-ups? Sawant says: “Those startups which begin with Rs 25 lakh are bound to get Rs 10 lakh as return with the help of incentives provided by the state. Additionally, the government will help provide 50 per cent of the salaries to the employees recruited by start-ups.”
The other top priority is infrastructure. “The focus is on building roadways, bridges and the international airport,” says Sawant. “The next priority is the three stages of tourism—first, sun, sand and sea; second, hinterland tourism, and finally, medical tourism. Next, we want to promote Goa as an industrial hub for clean industries, which are job-oriented, especially for local Goans.”
What about mining? Sawant is more cautious. “Keeping in mind the Supreme Court preconditions, we have begun to plan for the e-auction of mines,” he says.
Outlining his government’s mission, Sawant says, “Our vision is to promote Goa as India’s best, most developed state, particularly among small states. We would like Goa to top in all categories of development, health, education, GDP ratio and ease of doing business.
We’ll provide the cheapest power in the country, some of the best infrastructure, a highly educated workforce and great health facilities to attract investors.”
The Goan promise
Goa is uniquely placed to achieve all that its chief minister hopes for. Chief among its advantages is the highest per capita income in the country. With a population of 3.56 million in 2019, the per capita income of Goa, as on September 15, 2019, was estimated at Rs 3,37,734, way higher than the allIndia per capita net national income of Rs 87,623. Goa is India’s smallest state only in terms of area; in terms of population, three other states have smaller populations. The NCT of Delhi was behind Goa among small states, with a per capita income of Rs 2,62,682 (see Per Person Prosperity). This growth in per capita income has been consistent since 2013-14, following massive investment in infrastructure and newer sectors of growth.
Secondly, Goa has maintained a stellar record in key human development indices. Education and health standards in Goa have traditionally been high. It was ranked the best-placed state by the Eleventh Finance Commission for its infrastructure and ranked on top for the best quality of life by the National Commission on Population, based on 12 key indicators. Goa is the second state to have a 100 per cent automatic telephone system with a solid network of telephone exchanges. By September 2017, Goa had a total installed power generation capacity of 547.88 MW—one of the few states to achieve 100 per cent rural electrification.
Goodbye poverty
As a consequence of dynamic growth drivers, high HDI standards and high per capita income, Goa also has the lowest poverty rate in the country. The proportion of the population living below the poverty line in Goa was 5.1 per cent during the census year 2011-12, as per the Tendulkar committee method of calculating poverty based on per capita consumption expenditure per month or day (see A Rich Record). This was over four times lower than the national average of 21.9 per cent and lower than other states known for low poverty rate indexes, such as Kerala (7.1 per cent), Punjab (8.3 per cent) and undivided Andhra Pradesh (9.2 per cent).
The miracle, however, is that Goa went from being the state with the ninth-lowest poverty rate in 2004-05 to a state with the lowest poverty rate overall in 2011-12. The poverty rate in Goa was 25 per cent in 2004-05, which came down to just 5 per cent in 2011-12. The average decline in poverty rate for the country remained at about 15 percentage points in the same period.
The decline in poverty rates was sharper in Goa’s urban than rural areas. If the percentage of rural BPL population decreased from 28 per cent to 6.8 per cent from 2004-05 to 2011-12, the urban poverty rate declined from 22 per cent to 4 per cent in the same period, a decline of about 76 per cent and 82 per cent, respectively.
Agriculture, while of shrinking importance to the economy over the past half century, offers part-time employment to a sizeable portion of Goa’s populace. Rice is the main agricultural crop, followed by cashew, areca nut and coconut. Fishing employs about 40,000 people, though recent official figures indicate a decline in its importance as well as a fall in the catch, perhaps due to traditional fishing giving way to large-scale mechanised trawling.
Medium and small scale industries include those manufacturing pesticides, fertilisers, tyres, tubes, footwear, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, wheat products, steel rolling, fruits and fish canning, cashews, textiles and brewery products—all employing hundreds of thousands locals. Goa is also notable for its low-priced beer, wine and other spirits due to its low excise duty on alcohol. The tourism, hospitality and entertainment sectors, including the thriving casinos on the magnificent Mandovi river, also generate employment. The Sawant government has begun a push to develop these medium-scale sectors along with agriculture, especially green organic farming. Goa had 16 planned special economic zones (SEZs) though the government has now decided to not allow any more SEZs given the opposition by local political parties, environmentalists and the Catholic church.
Another major source of cash flow into the state, like in Kerala, is remittances from non-resident Goans. The
state also has some of the largest bank savings in the country. At one time, the Goan diaspora was largely connected to Iberian countries, especially Portugal and Spain. Today, however, this diaspora has spread to West Asia, Europe, the Americas and Southeast Asia. Goa is one of the rare states with a commissioner for non-resident Indians (NRI) affairs, of the rank of cabinet minister.
Urban success
Goa also wins laurels for being the most urbanised state in the country with an urban population of 62.2 per cent. This is twice the national average of 31.1 per cent as per Census 2011. Tamil Nadu (48.4 per cent) ranked second among developed states, followed by Kerala (47.7 per cent), Maharashtra (45.2 per cent) and Gujarat (42.6 per cent). Goa’s urban concentration jumped 12.9 percentage points from 2001, when the figure was 49.8 per cent. This increase was just 3.3 percentage points at the national level. The state capital Panaji has the highest urban concentration with 114,759 persons, followed by Margao (106,484) and Mormugao (101,326). However, the majority of urban areas are concentrated on the coastal belt, with not much industry in the rural hinterland. The yawning gap between the state’s coastal districts and the hinterland areas remains one of Goa’s biggest challenges for the future.
An educated lot
Goa ranked third among all states and second among developed states in literacy. The total literacy rate in Goa was 31 per cent during its integration with India in 1961. It was 88.7 per cent as per Census 2011, higher than the national average of 73 per cent (see Knowing Its ABC). Kerala is the only developed state with a higher literacy rate (94 per cent). Maharashtra (82.3 per cent) and Tamil Nadu (80.1 per cent) are the other two
developed states that have a literacy rate higher than 80 per cent. But they are still lower than Goa’s.
NITI Aayog declared Goa as a ‘frontrunner’ in 2018 in ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education for all. The adjusted net enrolment ratio at elementary (class 1 to 8) and secondary (class 9 to 10) levels is 90.46 per cent in Goa, behind Tamil Nadu (92.8 per cent) and Kerala (91.7 per cent), but much higher than the national average (75.8 per cent). The average annual dropout rate at the secondary level in Goa is among the lowest in India at 11.15 per cent, higher only than Tamil Nadu (8.1 per cent) and Punjab (8.8 per cent).
With a firm belief that the future of the country lies in its states and Union territories, the State of the States (SOTS) survey, started in 2003, has become a crucial benchmark for analysing the performance of states. The State of the State (SOTS) survey of Goa goes a step beyond: it analyses the performance of districts and talukas in Goa over a decade of development and across various categories. Each category is usually a composite index of a few parameters that are measurable across time, provided there is data. In the case of Goa, ideally one should compare the two districts of north versus south, each with six talukas. The taluka-level data is rather sketchy and available only for some of the parameters. The urban centres have advantages over the farflung rural areas. However, some of the rural areas emerge as number one in improvement parameters.
The way forward
The phrase ‘small is beautiful’ captures Goa’s many strengths. Even among India’s smaller states, Goa ranked first in the India Today 2018 SOTS best performance rankings in three indicators: economy, governance and tourism; the state stood number two in infrastructure and environment and third in education and health.
The district/ taluka-based SOTS disaggregated ranking reveals that Goa is the best state in per capita income, poverty reduction, key HDI indicators and on the very top in urbanisation, health and education. According to the 2018 NITI Aayog report, Goa is the frontrunner in ensuring ‘healthy lives and promoting well-being for all’—it recorded the lowest infant mortality rate in the country and the second-lowest under-five mortality rate.
However, the future holds many challenges. For one, Goa has limited scope for growth in manufacturing. Industry generally requires large tracts of land—Goa is limited in that respect. The mining sector is also largely exhausted and faces serious legal and environmental challenges. Additionally, these industries survive on low-cost, blue-collar labour, also in short supply. An alternative is high-tech industry, such as information technology (IT) and biotechnology-related industries, but they require massive capital investment and highly educated workers.
Another serious challenge for Goa is the rapid decline in agricultural productivity as a result of land overuse and pollution. Goa also faces a massive shortage of agricultural land, as well as agricultural labourers. The share of agriculture in the state’s net domestic product is one of the lowest in the country, below 8 per cent. The only comparative advantage Goa has in agriculture is in cash crops, such as cashewnuts, coconuts, areca nuts, jackfruit and bananas. Goa needs to diversify into new agricultural products via organic farming and agroprocessing. All of this requires massive investment in agriculture with modern technology and techniques, educating the agricultural workforce and a revolutionary change in both the means and relations of agricultural production. ■
When the first chartered flight of the tourism season landed on October 1, the tourists from Russia didn’t need guides or a to-do list—they went straight to Calangute in north Goa. The names Calangute, Baga, Anjuna, Vagator and Candolim, all in the north Goa district, have become synonymous with beach tourism in India.
The state has two districts, North Goa and South Goa, which are further split into talukas. A bastion of the Maratha army in the 18th and early 19th centuries, the current North Goa district is a preferred location for the promotion of arts, tourism and industries. Spread over 1,736 sq. km, the district a low population density, just 471 inhabitants per sq. km. The population is predominantly Hindu (76.1 per cent), but there are Christians (16.4 per cent) and Muslims (7.1 per cent) as well. At 89.6 per cent, the literacy rate in this district is high. The area also has some mega infrastructure projects coming up, including the international airport at Mopa and the electronics city at Pernem, which will provide employment to 25,000 people.
South Goa is spread over 1,966 sq. km and has a population density of 329 per sq. km. With a high literacy rate of 87.6 per cent, sex ratio of 980 women per 1,000 men, as per the 2011 Census, and 32 per cent work force, the district has huge potential for entrepreneurship.
North Goa
North Goa has been historically important since the era of the Portuguese intrusions, and then in the time of Chhatrapati Shivaji and his son Sambhaji. While Shivaji’s army had conquered Ponda, Sambhaji had taken control of Bardez. The Portuguese had made Fort Aguada their home, later used as a prison for many years and converted into a heritage site in 2015. The Bom Jesus Basilica in Goa is said to hold the mortal remains of St Francis Xavier, a Catholic missionary who is credited with spreading Christianity in Hindudominated Goa in the 16th century.
North Goa is blessed with an abundance of natural resources. Perennial rivers like the Tiracol, Chapora, Mandovi and Zuari give it an advantage on the water availability front. Iron ore mining in Bicholim and Sattari is a big part of the character of the district. But its biggest identity is the forest cover. Almost 21 per cent of North Goa is covered with dense forest, especially in the Western Ghats section in Sattari.
North Goa has also demonstrated how a traditional rural economy can be
transformed into fast-growing industrial centres. There are 12 major industrial estates in North Goa; the largest, Kundaim, has 356 units.
Apart from the flourishing tourism sector, pharmaceuticals, electrical and electronics industries and ship-building activities have seen a boom in recent years. The Goa government has also identified scope for industrial development in knowledge-based industries, such as biotechnology, aviation, aerospace, defence, information technology, agriculture-based economy and the food processing industry. The district also has tremendous potential in IT-enabled services, animation and gaming and digital entertainment.
Goa’s arts and crafts are a blend of Indian and Portuguese cultures. The majority of artisans in North Goa, mostly in Pernem and Sattari, are engaged in bamboo craft activities.
Cashew is cultivated in 11,796 hectares in North Goa with production at about 8,500 metric tonnes annually.
As availability of land is the biggest issue in the expansion of industries in Goa, the state government has come up with a solution. It has amended the Goa (Regulation of Land Development and Building Construction) Act, 2008, and the Goa Land Development and Building Construction Regulations, 2010, with an aim to de-freeze around 370,000 sq. m of land in various industrial estates. It is also looking at distributing 2.4 million sq. m of land, which has been unlocked from Special Economic Zone (SEZ) promoters, to new and existing industries.
South Goa
South Goa, a land of natural beauty with its waterfalls, beaches and mountains, is also the industrial hub of Goa. A centre for sports and culture, it is home to the famous football clubs of Goa—FC Goa, Churchill Brothers and Dempo, among others. Goa’s only cricket stadium is in Margao where the Ranji trophy matches are organised.
South Goa’s good infrastructure in the field of education is reflected in its high literacy rate. The law and order situation here is also comparatively better than in the north, resulting in a thriving hospitality industry.
The district is also rich in minerals such as iron, bauxite and manganese ore. Some 42 per cent of the district has deep forest cover: three wildlife sanctuaries and one national park are spread over 71 per cent of the forest area. There is immense potential in knowledgebased industries such as pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, electronics, and agriculture-based industry in south Goa. Around 70 per cent of the state’s manufacturing units are located here.
The Goa government has taken initiatives to set up IT parks all over the state. South Goa is likely to be the biggest beneficiary of this policy. ■