‘Industry, services offset agri crash, eco growth rate to rise to 7.9% in 2025-26’

Mumbai: The state's economic growth rate is set to rise from 7.3% in 2024-25 to 7.9% in 2025-26, according to Maharashtra's economic survey for 2025-26 tabled in the state legislature on Thursday. The sharp decline in the agricultural sector owing to unseasonal rains and floods has been compensated by an upswing in the industrial and services sectors. The state's estimated growth rate is higher than the national growth rate of 7.4%.The state's per capita income is set to increase from Rs 3,17,800 to Rs 3,47,903 by 2025-26. This is higher than the national per capita income estimated at Rs 2,19,575. Latest figures for 2024-25 though show Maharashtra ranked 5th in the country in per capita income, behind Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.
The survey shows that the estimated growth rate in the agricultural and allied services sector is set to plunge from 9.1% in 2024-25 to 3.4% in 2025-26. By contrast, the industrial growth rate is set to rise from 4.3% to 5.7% and the expected growth rate in the services sector from 8.3% to 9% during the same period. The industrial and services sector has much higher weightage in the computation of economic growth compared to agriculture. In 2025, 42% of the state received excess rains, which destroyed crops. Besides, a part of the state was also impacted by untimely rains and hailstorms. The calamities flattened agricultural growth, with the main kharif crop expected to see a 28% decline in the production of pulses and a 47.4% fall in oilseed output."The industry sector maintained the growth momentum due to expected growth in the manufacturing and construction sub-sectors. The services sector has remained a buoyant segment of the state's economy," the survey states, "A favourable price environment and record GST collection during the current financial year have supported the state's growth momentum."Within the industry sector which is often targeted by the Opposition, the growth rate in the manufacturing segment is set to rise from 4.1% in 2024-25 to 5.9% in 2025-26 while that in the construction sector is set to increase from 6.3% to 7.8% during the same period. The growth rate in the electricity, water supply and utilities segment is projected to rise from 1.1% to 5.8%. However, the mining and quarrying segment is expected to see a fall in growth rate from 4.2% to 0.2%.In the services sector, the segment of trade, hotels, transport and communication is estimated to experience a rise in growth rate from 6.2% to 8.3% while the financial services and real estate segment is expected to see growth rate rise only from 9% to 9.1%. The sharpest growth is expected from the public administration, defence and other services segment which is set to see an increase from 8.8% to 9.9%.Yet, despite the rise in growth, the state has deep disparities within. Only 6 of 34 districts had a per capita income higher than that of the state in 2024-25. These were Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nagpur, Raigad and Kolhapur. As many as 28 districts reported a per capita income lower than that of the state. And 11 districts reported a per capita income lower than the national figure of Rs 2,05,324. The tribal districts of Gadchiroli and Nandurbar reported the lowest per capita income in the state.The survey made no mention of Mukhya Mantri Majhi Ladki Bahin Yojana which costs the exchequer over Rs 35,000 crore per year. However, it points out the state's debt for 2025-26 is an estimated Rs 9.3 lakh crore, the highest ever in Maharashtra. The survey says this is within the fiscal limit at 18.3% of GSDP. The fiscal limit is 25% of GSDP under the Maharashtra Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act 2006. On the industrial front, the survey says the Magnetic Maharashtra' initiatives resulted in 303 MoUs for investments worth Rs 26.8 lakh crore between June 2020-Oct 2025. However, it does not provide data on how many MoUs resulted in projects.