Top 10 Richest States In India With Highest Contribution To Indian Economy

India, the country located in the greater part of South Asia, has 28 states and 8 union territories with the 2nd highest population globally.

India has the world’s sixth-largest economy in GDP measures and the third-largest purchasing power in the world.

What is GDP?

GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product, a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced in a specific time period. GDP is one of the world’s popular parameters to calculate the Nation’s progress.

Future Of India

By 2025, one-fifth of the world’s working-age population will be Indian. By 2030 there will be over 850 million internet users in India.

By 2035 India’s five largest cities will have economies of comparable size to middle-income countries today.

Now let’s look out the top 10 richest states in India which are contributing highest in the countries economy.

10. Kerala

GDP – ₹7.81 lakh crore (US$110 billion) (2018-2019)

Area – 38,863 sq.km

Capital City – Thiruvananthapuram

Statehood – 1 November 1956

Official Language – Malayalam

Literacy Rate – 96.2%

Kerala comes on Number (10) from our list of top 10 richest states in India.

Kerala has successfully marketed itself as natural beauty to the leisure tourism sector. Cultural diversity with unique heritage attracts more tourists from around the world.

In 2018, Kerala ranked top favorite tourist destination among foreign travelers in 2018 by BBC Travel survey. Kerala is widely known as God’s Own Country.

Kerala is the tenth-largest economy of India, with the sixth-largest per-capita Gross State Product (GSP) which is ₹2,05,484 during 2020-21 in India.

According to one survey, the average income per person in Kerala was approximately 1.6 times that of the Indian average in 2018-19.

Kerala has a Technopark in one of the major cities Thiruvananthapuram, which has been instrumental in attracting global electronics manufacturers.

Kerala is one of the largest exporters of Marine products and fish production. The state contributes a major percentage of the fish production of India.

Apart from this, Kerala produces pepper, other spices produced in the state include ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, tamarind, etc. in large quantities.

9. Telangana

GDP – ₹9.69 lakh crore (US$140 billion) (2019-2020)

Area – 1,12,077 sq.km

Capital City – Hyderabad

Statehood – 2 June 2014

Official Language – Telugu

Literacy Rate – 72.8%

Telangana comes on Number (9) from our list of top 10 richest states in India.

Telangana was formed in June 2014, which was formed due to the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh state. The state is locked in the southern peninsula of India.

Hyderabad is the capital city of Telangana, which is a hub for information technology (IT) and pharmaceutical sectors, which was also ranked second among the top 20 global cities in JLL’s City Momentum Index (CMI) 2019.

Leading IT companies worldwide, such as Facebook, Google, IBM, and Microsoft, hold a significant presence in Hyderabad.

Other than the IT sector, Hyderabad is also leading to pharma export. Approximately 20 % of India’s total pharma export held from the Hyderabad. The state government also promote a public-private partnership to develop the state’s pharma sector.

8. Andhra Pradesh

GDP – ₹9.73 lakh crore (US$140 billion) (2019-2020)

Area – 1,60,205 sq.km

Capital City – Amaravati

Statehood – 1 November 1956

Official Language – Telugu

Literacy Rate – 66.4%

Andhra Pradesh comes on Number (8) from our list of top 10 richest states in India.

Andhra Pradesh (AP) is located in the Southern peninsula of India. The state shares its borders with many states like Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and Bay of Bengal on the east.

Andhra Pradesh has established itself as one of the most prominent connection points with major world markets. The State was established as a master of logistics with the eastern coast with a coastline of approximately 975km, India’s second-largest after Gujrat.

Andhra Pradesh has 6 ports, 6 operational airports, over 123,300 km of the road network, and approximately 3,700 km of the rail network. The state’s estimated growth rate is about 11.02%, which is higher than any state of India.

Andhra Pradesh has well-established industries that include biotechnology, information technology (IT), textile and leather, automotive and auto components, and agriculture sectors.

Andhra Pradesh Sri City Special Economic Zone houses approx 150 companies from 27 countries is a key example of a well-planned infrastructure at a strategic location near Chennai.

The erstwhile state of Andhra Pradesh has been bifurcated into two states, Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh (Seemandhra), by the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 or the Telangana Act.

The act consisted of the aspects of the division of assets and liabilities, the boundaries of the proposed new states, and the status of the capital city Hyderabad after the separation of the state.

7. Rajasthan

GDP – ₹10.20 lakh crore (US$140 billion) (2019-2020)

Area – 3,42,239 sq.km

Capital City – Jaipur

Statehood – 30 March 1949

Official Language – Hindi

Literacy Rate – 66.11%

Rajasthan comes on Number (7) from our list of top 10 richest states in India.

Rajasthan is located on India’s northwestern side, with 10.4% of India’s total geographical area.

Rajasthan is a mineral-rich state and has a differentiated economy from having agriculture, mining, and tourism as its major contributors to the growth, to mines rich with the production like gold, silver, sandstone, limestone, marble, rock phosphate, copper, and lignite.

Cement production is also one of the key sectors for the state. Production of limestone during 2018-19 reached 76.46 million tonnes.

Rajasthan is one of the tourist place destinations among Indians due to Historic palaces, especially those in Jaipur and Udaipur, which offers opportunities to expand the luxury tourism segment, attracting several tourists visiting wildlife sanctuaries and desert locations.

6. West Bengal

GDP – ₹12.54 lakh crore (US$180 billion) (2019-2020)

Area – 88,752 sq.km

Capital City – Kolkata

Statehood – 26 January 1950

Official Language – Bengali

Literacy Rate – 76.26%

West Bengal comes on Number (6) from our list of top 10 richest states in India.

West Bengal is India’s sixth-largest state in terms of economic size. Kolkata, the capital city of West Bengal and Eastern India, is the financial center and plays a major role in its economy.

West Bengal is the largest rice producer, second-largest tea growing, and a major producer of fish in India. The State is also growing significantly in the sector of information technology and tourism.

The service sector plays a major role in the West Bengal economy. Services like Trade, finance, insurance, and related activities have grown significantly in recent years.

West Bengal had 21 Special Economic Zones (SEZ) – seven operational, five notified, seven formally approved, and two with in-principle approval (Data till February 2020).

5. Gujarat

GDP – ₹15.03 lakh crore (US$210 billion) (2018-2019)

Area – 1,96,024 sq.km

Capital City – Gandhinagar

Statehood – May 1, 1960

Official Language – Gujarati

Literacy Rate – 78.03%

Gujarat comes on Number (5) from our list of top 10 richest states in India.

Gujarat is located on India’s western coast and has the longest coastline of 1,600 km in India. Well-known for business people and with leading industrialized states, Gujarat is 5th richest state in India.

Gujarat is also famous as India’s petroleum capital because of the presence of large refining capacity set up by private and public sector companies.

Gujarat and especially Surat city is famous for processed diamonds, according to current data 72% of the world’s processed diamond and 80% of India’s diamond exports are from Gujarat.

Gujarat is considered as India’s chemicals, petrochemical, and pharmaceutical hub. Oil and gas reserves are also located in many major cities of Gujarat.

Gujarat has over 3,300 pharmaceutical manufacturing units, which contributed 30-35 % to India’s pharma sector’s turnover and around 28 percent to India’s pharma export during 2018-19.

4. Karnataka

GDP – ₹16.99 lakh crore (US$240 billion) (2019-2020)

Area – 1,91,791 sq.km

Capital City – Bengaluru

Statehood – 1 November 1956

Official Language – Kannada

Literacy Rate – 75.36%

Karnataka comes on Number (4) from our list of top 10 richest states in India.

Karnataka is located in the south of India; the Arabian Sea surrounds the west, and Goa, on the northwest.

Karnataka has major industries such as automobile, agro, aerospace, textile and garment, biotech, and heavy engineering industries. The state has sector-specific Special Economic Zones (SEZ) for key industries such as IT, biotechnology, and engineering, food processing, and aerospace.

Karnataka is the IT hub of India with home to the fourth-largest technology cluster in the world. Karnataka has software technology parks, and dedicated IT investment regions.

Karnataka take initiative to boost the aerospace industry and came out with an aerospace policy in the country.

For planning to develop an aerospace cluster in a different region of Karnataka, the state government made Aerospace Policy which has identified an investment potential of US$12.5 billion in this sector during 2013–23, out of which the state government approved the investment of Rs 480 crore (US$ 68.67 million) to Goodrich Aerospace Service Pvt. Ltd. to establish a unit in Bengaluru.

Karnataka is also leading in the biotechnology sector; more than 60 percent of the biotechnology companies in India have a base in Bengaluru, the state’s capital city. Bengaluru is also known as a startup city in India.

3. Uttar Pradesh

GDP  – ₹17.94 lakh crore (US$250 billion) (2019-2020)

Area – 2,43,286 sq.km

Capital City – Lucknow

Statehood – January 26, 1950

Official Language – Hindi

Literacy Rate – 73%

Uttar Pradesh comes on Number (3) from our list of top 10 richest states in India.

With the highest population in the country, Uttar Pradesh occupies the top spot in producing many goods. Still, in terms of the country’s total area, it comes at the 4th place after Maharastra, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan.

The major revenue of the state comes from the Agriculture sector. After the introduction of high-yielding varieties of seed for wheat and rice, greater availability of fertilizers. UP has become a major producer of food grains in India, including the chief crops like rice, wheat, and sugarcane.

Textiles and sugar refining is one of the leading industries in Uttar Pradesh, which employ a significant proportion of the state’s total factory labor.

Uttar Pradesh has large factories that manufacture heavy equipment, machinery, steel, aircraft, telephone and electronics equipment, and fertilizers established by the central government of India.

Uttar Pradesh is a major tourist destination in India with the Taj Mahal, which is one of the Wonders of the World, located in Agra.

Holy places like Varanasi, Allahabad, Ayodhya, and the Mathura-Vrindavan area attracts Hindu tourists. Sarnath, Kasia (site of Kushinagar, where the Buddha died) is also a famous tourist place in Uttar Pradesh.

2. Tamil Nadu

GDP – ₹18.45 lakh crore (US$260 billion) (2019-2020)

Area – 1,30,058 sq.km

Capital City – Chennai

Statehood – 1 November 1956

Official Language – Tamil

Literacy Rate – 80.33%

Tamil Nadu comes on Number (2) from our list of top 10 richest states in India.

Tamil Nadu, located in the extreme south of India, which has the second-largest economy. Over 60% of the state is urbanized, accounting for 10.6% of India’s urban population.

Tamil Nadu has a wide manufacturing sector and features among the leaders in several industries like automobiles and auto components, engineering, pharmaceuticals, garments, textile products, leather products, chemicals, plastics, etc.

It ranks first among the states in terms of the number of factories and industrial workers. Till March 2020, the state had a total installed power generation capacity of 32.84 gigawatts (GW).

Tamil Nadu has a well-developed transportation network that includes three major ports, 15 minor ports, seven airports, and a road and rail network.

1. Maharashtra

GDP – ₹28.78 lakh crore (US$400 billion) (2019-2020)

Area – 3,07,713 sq.km

Capital City – Mumbai

Statehood – 1 May 1960

Official Language – Marathi

Literacy Rate – 82.34%

Maharashtra comes on Number (1) from our list of top 10 richest states in India.

With India’s largest economy, Maharashtra is one of the most developed Indian states, with a contribution of almost 14.11% to India’s GDP.

Maharashtra is located in India’s western peninsular region; the state is occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. As the Marathi people’s home, Maharashtra is the state with the 3rd highest population in India.

Maharashtra plays a leading role in India’s social, political life as well as in terms of agricultural and industrial production, trade and transport, and education.

Maharashtra’s capital city, Mumbai, formally known as Bombay, is India’s biggest financial and commercial capital.

Maharashtra is the hub of many leading Industrial hub and contributing highest to the economy. The major industries are manufacturing, mass media, international trade, petroleum, tourism, fashion, apparel, and others.

Maharashtra’s cities like Mumbai and Pune are Industrial hubs. Pune is famous for the IT and manufacturing industries. Thane is known for the service sector. Nashik is contributing highest through the agriculture and allied activities sector.

Maharashtra is also famous for chemical products, food products, motor vehicles, refined petroleum products, textiles, machinery, etc.

Maharashtra is the fifteenth-highest ranking state among Indian states in the human development index. According to current economic indicators, it is one of the wealthiest states in India.

This is the list of the top 10 richest states in India, which contribute highest to the Indian economy and India’s growth.