Of the 30 districts in Karnataka, the per capita income of only six districts is above the State’s average per capita income of Rs. 1,26,976.
The per capita income of many of the north Karnataka districts is not even closer to the State’s average.
As expected, Bengaluru Urban tops the list of high income districts, followed by two coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi. Two Malnad districts Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga, and Bengaluru Rural are in the fourth, fifth and sixth place, respectively, for 2013–14. These districts also have high percentage of literates.
Kalaburagi Revenue region (comprising Ballari, Bidar, Kalaburagi, Koppal, Raichur, and Yadgir districts), is at the bottom of the per capita income list. The Kalaburagi region’s per capita income is less than half of the per capita income of the Bengaluru region.
Kodagu (7th rank, Rs. 1,24,636), Ballari (11th rank, Rs. 1,08,454), and Dharwad (13th, Rs. 1,05,677) are ahead of Mysuru and Belagavi districts. While Mysuru district ranked 19th, with a per capita income of Rs. 90,626, Belagavi secured 26th position (Rs. 72,428).
The latest Economic Survey (2015–16) of the State government said Bengaluru Urban district contributes 33.6 per cent to the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) followed by Dakshina Kannada (5.8 per cent) and Belagavi (4.4 per cent). At the same time, Yadgir (1.04 per cent) and Kodagu (0.89 per cent) occupy the last two places in terms of the district’s contribution to the GSDP.
District income is a measure of the level and growth of economic development prevailing in the district. It is a useful policy indicator to monitor the nature and degree of inter-district variations as well as disparities in the process of economic growth at the State level.
SDP
Most of the districts in north Karnataka and other parts of the State have remained backward even after spending Rs. 14,143.75 crore during the last eight years under the Special Development Plan (SDP). The SDP was being implemented in the backward taluks to address regional imbalances.
A High-powered Committee for Redressal of Regional Imbalances, led by economist late D.M. Nanjundappa, had identified 114 taluks in the State as backward.
The amount released was 63.03 per cent of the planned allocation but the utilisation was 92.09 per cent. The release of funds was slow under the SDP owing to the fact that the allocations were made from the provisions under various schemes in the Centre/State and district sectors, and further the release depends on the amount received under these schemes.
State ranking
In terms of income among the major States across the country, Karnataka ranked 5th for 2014–15, with Maharashtra leading the table (Rs. 17,92,122 crore). Karnataka’s income for the year was Rs. 9,07,839 crore.
