Amid the Uttar Pradesh government’s push for a trillion-dollar economy by 2029, the Samajwadi Party (SP) on Wednesday (December 24, 2025) ridiculed the target, claiming that a lack of serious pro-growth policies to address structural economic issues make the trillion-dollar target implausible and impossible.
The SP said that U.P.’s per capita income remains at roughly half the national average with agriculture still accounting for just over one-fifth of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) but employing over half the workforce, indicating massive productivity gaps in the agricultural sector.
“U.P.’s GSDP was ₹22.57 lakh crore in 2022-23, approximately $271 billion at 2023 exchange rates and only ₹25.48 lakh crore in 2023-24. Reaching $1 trillion by 2029 requires sustained real growth of 30% plus annually—far above Uttar Pradesh’s historical performance and India’s national average. Between 2012-13 and 2021-22, U.P.’s real GSDP grew at just 5.3% annually, below even the national average of 5.6% let alone the required rate, despite U.P. benefitting from an incomparable demographic dividend and central government investment,” the party said in a statement.
The State ranks 13th out of 17 major States in agricultural productivity, and manufacturing growth—critical for rapid GDP expansion—faces challenges from poor infrastructure and low credit penetration,” said Ram Pratap Singh, national spokesperson of the SP.
Mr. Singh added that without addressing fundamental issues in agriculture like small landholdings, poor extension services, inadequate storage of agricultural output, and limited value addition as well as manufacturing, achieving 15% plus sustained growth is unrealistic and the required 30% impossible.
Nasser Salim, SP spokesperson, further alleged that there are structural development gaps in government plans.
“Government plans face a critical structural gap in base income levels required to drive consumption. A verified NITI Aayog report explicitly states that Uttar Pradesh’s “nominal per capita income is half of the national per capita income” This structural deficit limits the internal market size needed to sustain a $1 trillion economy. Furthermore, regional inequality remains entrenched despite investment policies. World Bank and government data indicate that the Bundelkhand region contributes only around 5.5% to the State’s agricultural output, showcasing clearly that growth is not synchronized across regions within the State,” Mr. Salim said.
Earlier in the month Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath personally reviewed the progress of initiatives aimed at making the state a $1 trillion economy, and said the State is on the right track and has scope to reach the accelerated growth needed to achieve this target.
Published – December 25, 2025 04:15 am IST
