The resources of Rajasthan
Rajasthan has always been an agricultural region. Agriculture supports nearly two-thirds of the population and accounts for 30% of the state's GDP. Cereals, oilseeds, pulses and cotton are among the favored crops. Crop yields are highly dependent on the summer monsoon, which runs from June to September, and production can vary considerably from year to year. For example, with 458 mm of rainfall recorded in 2021, cotton production increased by 100% over the previous year. Industry accounts for 25% of Rajasthan's economy. It is mainly based on the exploitation of mining resources. The largest state in India, Rajasthan is also the best endowed with natural resources. 82 types of minerals have been identified and 57 are exploited. Lead, zinc and selenite come exclusively from the region. Rajasthan is also one of the country's largest producers of silver, calcite and gypsum. 20% of India's crude oil comes from a deposit in the Thar Desert, near Barmer. Aware of the need to diversify energy sources, the local government has invested heavily in wind power in recent years. It has set up public-private partnerships to develop a huge wind farm around Jaisalmer, making it the second largest wind farm in the country. Cement factories and clay and ochre mining also play an important role in Rajasthan's industry. Textile and handicraft industries are the spearheads of export products. The industrial sector is mainly carried by small family structures and some large public companies.
The service sector contributes 45% of Rajasthan's GDP. It is supported by a dense banking and financial sector, from the largest national banks to micro-credit organizations dedicated to rural development projects. But in Rajasthan, the service sector is mainly driven by tourism. The local government has a particular interest in this sector which is very promising in terms of employment.
The place of tourism
For a long time, tourism in India was reserved for a closed circle, that of the British elite and Indian high society. It was not until the 1960s that the country truly opened up to the world, driven by the Orientalist and hippie movements. In the 1980s, a turning point was reached with the establishment of public-private partnerships to diversify the offer. The states organized themselves by creating regional tourist offices. Rajasthan joined the movement by developing a dense hotel offer and by reinforcing its transport. The maharajas who lost their privileges at the dawn of the 1970s transformed their palaces and fortresses into hotel residences. They concede land for the construction of roads or railroad lines. Tourism has become essential to the economy of Rajasthan, making it an engine of growth. The state is the fifth most visited in India by foreign tourists and welcomed 1,600,000 visitors in 2019. Very sensitive to old stones and cultural traditions, the French are among the very first contingent of tourists to visit Rajasthan with 200,000 annual visitors. Tourism in Rajasthan accounts for nearly 15% of the state's economic balance. The local government is multiplying partnerships and initiatives to offer new activities such as cruises on the Chambal River, buggy rides in the Thar Desert or the illumination of historical monuments in the cities. The state is also carrying out very concrete action plans for the development of ecotourism and agrotourism to enable neglected regions to benefit from the windfall. Tourism is seen as a significant asset for improving connectivity between cities, maintaining cultural heritage and keeping traditions alive. It is also an economic resource that allows citizens to benefit directly from modernization. A study has shown that one rupee spent by a tourist changes hands an average of 13 times and that each hotel room generates an average of 3 direct jobs and 8 indirect jobs. While foreign tourism is of particular importance to earn foreign exchange, Rajasthan also conducts massive campaigns to attract domestic tourists. More than 52 million Indians visited Rajasthan in 2019.
Current issues
Many of the socio-economic issues in Rajasthan overlap with those in India, starting with the over-indebtedness of farmers. Low incomes, uncertain harvests, difficulty in obtaining loans and high interest rates are all factors that weigh on the sector. In Rajasthan, 70% of the population depends on agriculture, but only 20% of the cultivated area is irrigated. Access to water in this semi-desert region is a major challenge, especially since climate change is affecting the monsoons, which are becoming less abundant or, on the contrary, devastating. Under these conditions, better management of the water table and irrigation programs are essential. The government of Rajasthan is investing hundreds of millions of rupees in micro-irrigation and rainwater harvesting projects to reduce dependence on the monsoon. The harsh working conditions affect the literacy rate of the people. Often living in remote villages, far from schools, children struggle to access education. Even when they have access to education, some parents prefer to send them to herd cattle or to fetch water from the well, as all the hands are needed to support the family. Rajasthan has one of the worst literacy rates in the country, with only 66% of people able to read and write by 2021. The lack of education reduces the chances of these children to one day enter a profession that will improve the family's living conditions.
After years of exponential growth, the number of foreign visitors has stagnated since 2007. Rajasthan has responded by turning to domestic tourism. The number of Indian visitors has quadrupled in only 10 years, to reach around 50 million visitors annually. This strategy helped limit the devastating effects of Covid, when India closed its doors to foreign visitors for nearly 2 years. Since the 2000s, India and Rajasthan have jointly invested heavily in the construction of new highways, airports and air links, bringing in more and more tourists and keeping visitor numbers high. The opening of the military airport in Jaisalmer to domestic flights in 2017 is a striking example. Now it is sometimes difficult to find a room in the citadel, rates are exploding and the streets are taken over by tourists.
Bureaucratic inefficiency and endemic corruption are a serious impediment to Rajasthan's economic development. The BJP's resounding results in 2014 showed that Indians were looking for a real change in the way they were governed. Narendra Modi punctuated his first campaign with numerous anti-corruption slogans. Once in office, his most striking action was to suddenly withdraw the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. The idea was to fight the underground economy and fraud by replacing these bills with new ones. Many Indians found themselves with a nest egg of savings that could not be sold overnight. In reality, this operation has done great harm to the economy, which is still unstructured. On the other hand, the government has refrained from acting on the bad practices of the administration (absenteeism, variable hours, demotivation, cronyism, bribes, etc.). The Modi government is more focused on the nationalist part of its agenda than on fighting corruption.
Hygiene is also a major concern that can only give a better image of the country, beyond the direct effects on the health of Indians. Modi has launched a major cleanliness campaign, "Swachh Bharat", which is renewed every year. Large posters are put up all over the country encouraging Indians to clean up after themselves and not to throw their waste anywhere. If the campaign seems to be somewhat successful on the mentalities, it is not accompanied by a vast waste management program. Collection, recycling, treatment and storage require significant investments that are still not planned. As a result, many Indians burn their waste in front of their houses or in their backyards, adding to the pollution. Operation Clean India is accompanied by an ambitious program to build public toilets. In 2014, only 23% of the population living in rural areas had access to sanitation. People used to defecate in the fields or by rivers, in the open, facilitating the transmission of disease and soiling water and soil. In 2019, the Indian government announced with great fanfare that the country was rid of the open defecation problem. But a study conducted by Unicef in 2021 tempers this enthusiasm somewhat. It appears that 15% of the population still relieves itself in the open. If 110 million toilets have been built in 5 years, leaving only 0.8% of the rural population without access to toilets, no campaign to change practices has been conducted among the population.
