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The small hilly state, geographically located in the north-western part of
the country, is surrounded by four states, namely, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab,
Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir with Tibet on the other side. Himachal Pradesh is
among the most advanced socio-economic states and has shown promising growth
over the years. Over the last decade the strong agro-based economy has shifted
towards services, particularly tourism.
The state is sparsely populated with less than half of Delhi's population and
about 40 times its area. Endowed with natural attractions, tourism is one of the
key contributors to the state's income. Some of the tourist attractions include
tribal areas, mountaineering, winter sports like skiing, besides a large number
of pilgrim centres. It is a hub for domestic and foreign tourists.
The state is largely an agro-based economy with about 71 per cent of its
population dependent on farming, horticulture and livestock for their
livelihood. The main crops are wheat, corn (maize), barley, rice and potatoes.
It is one of the leading fruit and vegetable producing states in the country.
The State Government has steadily been focusing on improvement of industrial
infrastructure.
A slew of industrial parks and estates including export-oriented parks for
agro-processing units have been set up, thus, strengthening the agriculture
sector in the state. Several fruit and food processing units and other allied
industries like warehousing and packaging have come up in various parts of the
state. The state's agro-processing units have highest per capita output and
value addition in the country.
Himachal Pradesh has one of the highest levels of telecom penetration in the
country. The state has a well-developed banking sector with a high density of
bank branches. It has the highest hydel power generation potential in the
country and has fostered private sector participation in the sector.
The Government of Himachal Pradesh has formulated its policies with an
objective to improve the industrial sector in the state. It has initiated many
welfare programmes to improve the economic well being of its people. The state
provides special package of incentives to the investors and ranks highest on the
incentives index. The state enjoys a healthy investment climate with the
presence of several domestic and multinational corporations. The state attracted
an investment of US$ 1.1 billion approximately, in 2003-04.
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