Business and Economy of Panaji

Today Panaji city can proudly claim that its economy is the most developed and also most resilient in entire India. After all, it is capital of Goa, which is officially the richest state of India. Hence, not surprisingly Panaji city and in fact entire Goa itself boosts highest standard of living in entire India. For last one decade Goa has been consistently achieving 8 – 9% of GDP growth rate, which is fastest growth rate achieved by any Indian in last one decade.
 
Given below are details of all the important industries that have duly contributed in making Panaji and its home state Goa the richest economy of India.

Tourism Industry:

Tourism Industry is unarguably the heart and soul of Goa’s economy. After all, more than 60% of state’s revenue comes from tourism sector. According to rough estimates, Goa earns annually more than 4000 - 5000 crores from tourism sector alone. As of today it accounts for 15% of foreign tourist arrivals in India every year and even more than that in case of Indian tourists. Needless to say, Goa’s booming tourism industry also invariably contributes to the economic growth of Panaji and all other important cities and towns of the state.
 
In Panaji alone the entire hospitality industry, transport industry, retail industry and other hordes of unorganized sectors solely depend on tourism sector for their sustainability and growth. In fact tourism sector is the highest generator of employment not only for Panaji city, but for entire Goa state. Besides, tourism sector is also helping in opening up new avenues like medical tourism for Goan people.

To sum up, Tourism industry was, is and will forever be the main engine of economic growth of Goa state including Panaji city. 
                                  

Service sector:

Service sector mainly compromises of host of nationalized and private banks, hospitality and health industry operating in Panaji and other important adjoining towns. These sectors have generated huge employment and continue to contribute huge revenue for Goa’s economy. In fact roughly 30% of Panaji’s working population is engaged in these 3 sectors. While banking and health industries aren’t tourism centric, hospitality industry certainly is directly dependent on tourism industry for its continuous growth.

And since Panaji city is one of the richest cities of India, the biggest names & companies from banking, health and hospitality industry have all opened their branches here. However, unfortunately as today Panaji city or for that matter entire Goa doesn’t boost any big IT and BPO companies, which are actually booming sectors in the neighboring states of Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Mining Sector:

After tourism, mining sector was one of the important sectors of Goa’s economy. In fact Goa is so rich in iron ore that at one point it accounted for almost 34% of India’s total iron ore export. But, sadly today the picture is quite different. As last year Supreme Court of India, citing illegal mining as the main reason, completely banned mining in the state of Goa. Supreme Court’s decision has certainly resulted in sharp fall in state government’s revenue collection, which invariably means that today Goa government has very less money & budget to spend on development projects in Panaji and other important cities of Goa. Hence the ban on mining will also have an impact on Panaji in long run.                        
                                                      

Agriculture and Fishing:

Over last few decades the importance of agriculture and fishing in Goa’s overall economy has swiftly come down. Today in fact it contributes hardly any revenue to state’s economy. And anyways people of Panaji were hardly dependent on these two sectors for their livelihood. But nonetheless, they still provide livelihood to thousands of people living in the interiors of Goa state. At least fishing is still a pretty popular occupation in 42 villages. 

As for agriculture, paddy is one of the main crops grown here. It is also pertinent to mention that agriculture’s share in Goa’s economy is so minimal that it imports almost all its agricultural goods from neighboring states of Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Manufacturing Industry:

Although Goa is the smallest state of India, it still does has pretty good presence of manufacturing industry. Many small and medium scale industries producing steel, electric conductor, pesticides, fertilizers, tyres, tubes, footwear, chemicals and cashew nuts have pretty good presence in the state of Goa. And huge chunk of Panaji’s population are also employed in these industries, invariably making valuable contribution to Panaji’s local economy.

But, overall the manufacturing sector is still an upcoming industry in Goa but its future in Goa certainly looks very bright.    

Goa State Government has also instituted many industrial bodies to give boost to the industrial sector in the state. The names of these bodies have been given below:

• The Economic Development Corporation (Edc) Of Goa, Daman & Diu.

• The Goa Industrial Development Corporation (Gidc).

• Goa Handicrafts Rural & Small Scale Industries Development Corporation.

• The Small Industries Service Institute.