Bihar outdoes Gujarat as fastest growing state

Bihar, which was once almost a byword for backwardness and poverty, has now emerged as India's fastest growing state, eclipsing even Narendra Modi's Gujarat.

According to Planning Commission data, Bihar grew at a fast clip of 10.9 per cent between 2006 and 2010. This is a remarkable turnaround, as between 2001 and 2005, it was the slowest growing state with GDP expansion of 2.9 per cent.

On the other hand, Gujarat, which was the fastest growing state between 2001 and 2005 with figure of 11 per cent, saw a dip in growth to 9.3 per cent during 2006-2010. Apart from Bihar, it was overtaken by four other states - Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Maharashtra and Odisha.

Interestingly, Gujarat was the only state among 17 fastest growing ones to see a decline in growth during the period.

Chhattisgarh grew from 7.7 per cent in 2001-05 to 10 per cent; Haryana from 8.4 per cent to 9.7 per cent; Maharashtra from 8.2 per cent to 9.6 per cent; and Odisha from 7.8 per cent to 9.4 per cent.

Average GDP growth of the top five states was 9.1 per cent in the 11th five-year plan, up from 7 per cent in 10th Plan and 5 per cent in 9th Plan.