Tale of two states: What numbers tell us about AP, Telangana

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₹2,758 crore. They also get power and yarn subsidies. “I finally repaid last year the ₹5 lakh debt that I had taken nine years ago," says Gajula Mallesham, who operates 10 looms in his house.

“We went through hell. Things are better now," he adds. This transformation has triggered a reverse migration.

Workers from Jharkhand and Odisha have found jobs in these weaving units and in the textile and weaving parks the state government has set up in the town. Sircilla is the constituency of K.T. Rama Rao, working president of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Telangana’s ruling party, and son of chief minister K.

Chandrashekar Rao. Sircilla is clearly a beneficiary of the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. In 2014, The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act got the presidential assent and Telangana formally came into existence on 2 June that year.

The two other regions, Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema, also called Seemandhra, remained with Andhra Pradesh. Ten years on, the bifurcation appears to have worked, if one looks at the broad numbers. Both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have grown at a faster pace than united Andhra Pradesh.

“Between 2013-14 and 2022-23, Telangana’s economy grew at a compounded annual growth rate of 7.2% and Andhra Pradesh by 7.1% as against all India rate of 5.6%. Their growth was higher than undivided Andhra Pradesh’s 3.9% between 2011-12 and 2013-14," says Paras Jasrai, senior analyst, India Ratings and Research, a credit rating agency. Per capita income of both states has risen.

Telangana’s from ₹85,000 in 2012-13 to over ₹309,000 in 2022-23. In the same period, Andhra Pradesh’s per capita income grew to over ₹220,000 from ₹72,000. But a closer look reveals two different tales.